Old habits and new
I did it again. I steered my cart of groceries into the check out lane and realized that I had left my good intentions in the car.
Weeks ago I decided that I was bringing home way too many plastic bags. When I'm given a choice, I request paper bags, but even those were piling up. To reduce the amount of both kinds of bags and take at least a small "green" step, I would begin using cloth tote bags to bring home groceries. After a couple weeks, I actually put three tote bags in the car to have on hand for my next shopping trip. I also stashed in the car a few of the paper bags from the store chain that advertises 5 cents/bag for those brought back to reuse.
This wasn't the first time I started out with good intentions only to leave them behind once I arrived in the parking lot. How many more times of thinking about those bags will it take before I actually remember to use them?
If "old habits die hard." then the corollary must be that "new habits start hard."
Change takes work as well as good intentions. I recall learning that the process of making a change involves several stages, beginning with thinking about the change. Acting on the decision to change comes later and integrating the change to the point of creating a new habit takes repetition over weeks and months. No wonder we have such a difficult time changing eating and exercise habits.
Maybe the next time I need groceries, I'll tie a string around my finger before I go.
Weeks ago I decided that I was bringing home way too many plastic bags. When I'm given a choice, I request paper bags, but even those were piling up. To reduce the amount of both kinds of bags and take at least a small "green" step, I would begin using cloth tote bags to bring home groceries. After a couple weeks, I actually put three tote bags in the car to have on hand for my next shopping trip. I also stashed in the car a few of the paper bags from the store chain that advertises 5 cents/bag for those brought back to reuse.
This wasn't the first time I started out with good intentions only to leave them behind once I arrived in the parking lot. How many more times of thinking about those bags will it take before I actually remember to use them?
If "old habits die hard." then the corollary must be that "new habits start hard."
Change takes work as well as good intentions. I recall learning that the process of making a change involves several stages, beginning with thinking about the change. Acting on the decision to change comes later and integrating the change to the point of creating a new habit takes repetition over weeks and months. No wonder we have such a difficult time changing eating and exercise habits.
Maybe the next time I need groceries, I'll tie a string around my finger before I go.
posted by Three Seas | 9:11 PM
1 Comments:
I have grown out of that habit regretfully. It was a lot easier when I walked to the store and everything I brought home had to fit into a backpack :)
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