A new year.  A new cold.  I haven’t been this sick in a long time.  I knew I should’ve changed out of wet pants after walking my dog Lila in the rain.  I’m conditioned to giving her two walks a day no matter the weather.  That’s a positive habit!

An old acupuncturist once told me cold enters the body in two ways:  the back of the neck and the knees.  When I follow her wisdom I have no problem.  So why I sat in wet pants freezing my knees off I don’t know.  Or do I?

“Common sense is not common action.”

As Shawn Achor writes in his book:  The Happiness Advantage, “…we are mere bundles of habits…”

When I returned from walking Lila on that rainy night, I sat down on my chaise for “just a minute” to read a few things.  That spot happens to be where I do most of my reading, writing and meditating which means I can sit for a long time.  That’s exactly what happened.  It has become automatic for me to settle there.

I lost a few habits this last decade that I want to reclaim.  For example getting up early and out with the dog within the first half hour of waking up.  And studio sessions of 3 hour chunks.  I miss the barbells and dumbbells too.  These activities make me happy and give me energy.  They generate an open and generous feel to the day.  Happy is the sun in your solar system.

So I’m thinking of ways to make my desired actions easy; to put them as close to the path of least resistance as possible.

First I need to get rid of this cold!

Any habits you’re working on?

XOXO,

Francesca