I love synchronicity! I was checking in at MarksDailyApple.com, and found a blogpost from earlier this month (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/akrasia-or-why-you-act-against-your-own-better-judgment/#comment-806307) on “akrasia” a term which essentially means why we act against our own best interest. This of course is directly related to the subject of my recent post on habit, and the new information coming out this month in Charles Duhigg’s book on “The Power of Habit.”
One of the best things about this age in which we live is that the information stream is increasingly broader and deeper. We are learning so much, primarily it seems from people’s own experiences (the great engines of science turn slowly), about why we do the things we do: the influences from corporations, government, our habits learned very early in life, friends, family, etc. The more I read–and I read a lot!–the more convinced I become that nothing we do that’s related to elemental things, like food, safety, relationships, is simple. Complexity, meaning the astonishingly complex nature of how our bodies work, how life works in community, and so on, is probably why our brains need to habituate, to find short cuts for daily activities. Think how exhausting it can be to learn something new, like a language, or just about anything that puts us back at true beginner status. Not until some things become habit, do they feel easier.
I’m finding this new understanding of habit very encouraging, for it will help me to avoid the pitfalls that come with thinking “just this once” about a behavior that can quickly cause one to revert to old habits.
Yours celebrating synchronicity,
Nan aka Sugarbaby
Sugaraholics 