H is for Habits!📱
Hi friends! Welcome to the second part of our WHOLENESS series! If you missed the last part of it (W is for Water!), you can click here to read it.
So, today we are going to focus on the H is WHOLNESS, which stands for habits! Our habits have a huge role in how we live our lives. They affect our diet, how we dress, how we travel, and even how we spend our free time. The Merriam Webster dictionary describes habits as “1. a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior” or “: an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.”
We all know that habits can be both good and bad. But what exactly defines a good or bad habit? The majority of people in the world will have very different ideas on what is good and bad, but for the most part I think we can all agree that a good habit is something that will benefit you in some way, whether it be physically, mentally or spiritually. On the other hand, a bad habit will cause you to degrade your physical, mental or spiritual level.
Even worse, sometimes bad habits can turn into an addiction. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines an addiction as “ : a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence : the state of being addicted.”
Drugs and alcohol are the most commonly used examples of addictions…but what about phone usage? TV or even sugar and coffee? Yes, all of these can be just as addictive, even if the signs and symptoms are not as obvious as with drugs.
So, how do we prevent bad habits and increase our good habits? Well, there is this thing called temperance. One of the definitions in the Merriam Webster dictionary is “habitual moderation in the indulgence of appetites or passions.” I would say that I do not completely agree with this definition, although it is one that most people might agree with.
A definition from a book called “Temperance” uses a definition that would be more Bible based, which says “True temperance teaches us to dispense ENTIRELY with EVERYTHING hurtful and to use judiciously that which is healthful.”
So what does this mean for us? Well, in order to make sure we are keeping a healthy lifestyle, we must get rid of bad habits as a whole and make sure that our good habits are not extreme. For example, ideally, one should consume about 70% raw food to minimize the intake of processed foods. But, many people go on strict vegan, 100% raw food diets, which can lead to problems due to “undersupply of energy and certain macro- and micronutrients.” How do we figure out what to leave out of our habits? Everyone’s bodies are different and everyone reacts to food, exercises, and environments differently. The key is to hear what your body needs, but you can also do research from trustable places and people to figure out what you should generally avoid, such as, drinking soda with each meal, being on your phone late at night, or even exercising excessively!
I would like to insert a project that began in 1948 focused on spiders and the effect that different drugs and chemicals had on them. The original purpose by which it began was different as to why it was continued, (you can read about it by following the link to the story here), but the results were very intriguing. NASA ended up continuing the original experiment.
In these pictures shown you can see the spider webs created after the spiders had been injected with either marijuana, benzedrine, caffeine, and chloral hydrate.
Out of all of these substances, caffeine had the most major, chaotic and dramatic impact on the spider’s behavior and motor skills. In each case, the spider reacted similarly as to how these substances affect the human body. So…could caffeine be causing us further damage than we think?
We must be very careful with our habits, including what we eat, watch, listen and do because whether we realize it or not, it will have a huge impact if not now, in our later years in life and will compromise our quality of life.
“4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”
- 2 Peter 1:4-7
- Victoria Flores, Health Coach & Medical Missionary