(Maybe if he were hanging from my bar, I'd re-consider...)21 DAYS TO ESTABLISH OR ELIMINATE
Head ducked, I walk into the laundry room.
Head ducked, I walk out.
Head ducked, I return to the laundry room.
Head ducked, I walk out.
Almost a year ago my husband installed a chin-up bar in the doorway of the laundry room, so my son could work on his upper body strength. It worked. He hung on that thing every time I went in or out of the laundry room, roughly 4 million times a week.
About two weeks ago I stopped banging my head on the bar, ALWAYS forgetting it was there, finally learning to duck.
Three days ago, realizing my son hadn't hung on the damn bar for months and tired of the ducking/banging, "Oh Yea!" moments, I removed the bar.
I never fail to duck now. Never.
They say it takes 21 days to establish or eliminate a habit. We won't get all judgmental and label habits "good" or "bad", we'll just call them what they are, habits. Habits can be very useful and productive, or not so much. Often, what begins for the "right" reasons and is super helpful at the time, outgrows its usefulness/helpfulness, but the habit remains. I'm trying to tease out those habits that are no longer useful. I'm starting with the ducking and moving up the list from there.
14 comments:
Love the 'ah-ha' moment. It's rewires the circuit for other things. Except awesome coffee.
Yeah, but again, if you had that guy around ...
Have you seen that Far Side cartoon where the guy installs a chin up bar and then does a chin up and crashes his head into the top of the door frame? It's one of my favs and I guess Gary Larson was inspired to draw it after it really happened to him.
You are so funny!
Good luck with that. Let us know how it goes.
Yes, those habits are tough cookies to break! Somehow I never manage to get to day 21 to see if this number is really the magic number.
It's always good to start with something simple. . . Let's hope someone doesn't put the bar back about the time you stop ducking. :)
Breaking bad habits???Do you have any, really?? I love those ah-ha moments when we see the obvious, like removing the bar that never gets used. It feels so good. Probably like quitting "bad" habits must feel.
This is hilarious, Carrie, because it is so true. I know exactly what you're talking about. "Teasing out" those habits is the hardest thing to do.
I think in some ways you and I are living parallel lives because lately I've been doing alot of "ducking" even when there's nothing there.
This is hilarious, Carrie, because it is so true. I know exactly what you're talking about. "Teasing out" those habits is the hardest thing to do.
I think in some ways you and I are living parallel lives because lately I've been doing alot of "ducking" even when there's nothing there.
I just can't decide which of my many bad habits to begin with!
21 days, really? Wow, I should start making my own list.
Please keep us posted on how it goes!
And Monica, that's a great way to look at things. There's nothing there to hit you anymore, so you keep your head up high!!
What a riot! When I saw (and ducked for) that bar in your laundry room, I just assumed it was there to hang your damp shirts on to get the wrinkles out. A chin up bar, really? That's just the kind of thing my husband would put up and never use, but forbid me from taking down 'just in case'.
This is training that can, no doubt, serve you well.
DUCK!
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