Flossing and other Habits

Gasp! Sorry, I just had to start that way. Apparently it's my new buzzword. I noticed it in 2 of my last 3 posts. Amazing how things become habit, even speech. I had to assure a guy he was not offending me every time he slipped with a four letter word, especially since it was of relatively benign nature. I knew it was a result of 40+ years of using it regularly. He had only recently begun his faith journey and this is one of those things that would take care of itself.

My dentist got on me for not flossing. I knew he would. Every dentist I've ever had did the same. I just have not been able to form the habit. I will do really well for a couple of weeks but never make to the end of the proverbial 30 days that supposedly cements a habit. He told me to not try to form the habit. He said, "Just do it for 30 days. Once you've done it for a month, you won't stop. You'll notice such a difference when you don't that you won't be able to NOT floss. It will be like skipping a shower one day." We'll see. I haven't begun day 1 yet.

When people begin their faith journeys, we try really hard to help them develop what has been called "holy habits" and quit some of their other ones. We always say, "Just do it for 30 days. It will be a habit and then you won't be able to stop." I'm not sure that's necessarily true. For 9 months I followed a composite of all the good carb/bad carb/anti-carb eating plans. I actually lost almost 25 pounds. Things got a little stressful and I began to give in to the ice cream and candy bars again. Soon biscuits re-entered my diet. I've put about 7 pounds back on. The pants have tightened up again and I know what I need to do. I to return to the other way of eating because it's better for me. And I actually enjoyed everything I was eating on that plan, so it's not like I'm really depriving myself of pleasure.

So, it's not the amount of time that's important when you want to develop a habit or a routine. Perhaps it just how badly you want to do it. My "holy habits" are not ones I do because I have programmed my life that way. I just miss them when I skip them. I feel like I've not showered or flossed. I see how their presence or absence affects my faith journey.

Just a thought. What do you think?

As a side note, they say once you do crack you are hooked. That's a lot less than 30 days isn't it? Any chance there's a positive thing out there that will hook us first time?