On Habit - Subramanian A

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29th

July 2012.

Most of us have our daily routine. We are habituated to our individual routine that if it is disturbeddue to some reason, then, practically we are gone. If we are denied our morning coffee, we are gone.

If the newspaper doesnt arrive on a day, then, that day is gone. We may act like mad persons or

persons who are simply out of tune with time.

Habituation means mental conditioning. We get fallen to certain pattern of daily life. This pattern

may either be a product of our individual nature or external compulsions. In other words, the bent of

our mind and material circumstances are the contributing factors in drawing the pattern of our habit.

For example, if our bent of mind is very keen in keeping our house neat and tidy, we are most likely to

form the habit of having a broom stick in our hands for most of the time. We will form the habit of

cleansing the floors every now and then and dusting every nook and corner. We may be disturbed if

somebody entered the house without rubbing their feet on the coir or rubber mat. Our hands may

know no rest. Our eyes will be keen to spot a stain on the floor or a spiders net in the remotest

corner of the house.

This is a case of mental conditioning. This conditioning will drive us to form a pattern of habit of

dusting every rack and table every hour of the day. This conditioning will drive us to do the spadework around the house so that no grass is seen, no fallen leaves lie on the ground, that everything is

kept spic and span.

If our mind is after tidiness, then, we are practically gone. We will form the habit of keeping

everything in its place. Whatever is taken from shelves will go back to their respective places without

fail. We will see to it. We will enforce our children to follow the same order and if things are not seen

in their proper places, we will certainly get agitated. See, our habit of keeping things in a particular


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way and order finally will back bite only us. It will really pull our nerves if our family members are not

following our rules in this regard.

This is the greatest problem if we are mentally habituated in a particular way. Our mind will get

hooked on to many things. Cleanliness and order will be a constant worry for us. Even when our

body is weak, we will keep on doing the same thing out of mental compulsion. We will not allowothers to do the same thing either. We will simply cling on to the same old habit of repeating the

same thing thus leaving us into a state of frustration and mechanical life. Derivation of mental

satisfaction will be far less in this case as well.

If we can observe, our age old habits in our old age can really mar our life. We will simply follow a

beaten path in a mechanical way. We will fall into a loop this can be either a physical loop in the

form of following our daily routine in a robotic way or a mental loop, very much driven by certain

thoughts. This mental loop is a kind of hang over of the past, of our sub-conscious habits accumulated

by certain cyclic thoughts. Every habit leaves a pattern of thought in our mind. These patterns of

thought may seem so harmless in our early periods but they can really take us to storm in our old age.

So, it is very important to see that we should not fall into a groove either physically or mentally. We

should not cling on to our habits or get trapped within certain narrow views and thoughts. In other

words, we should abstain from following life in a pure mechanical, blind manner. It is a thoughtless

approach.

Our habits should be very flexible. Our mind also should be very flexible. A rigid approach to life by

way of habits and thoughts can certainly leave us into a state of inflexibility in our old age. It can

disturb the world around us. We may easily become a burden for others to handle us in every way.

We will begin to wage a battle with the world if the world doesnt respond to our physical and mental

ways.

So, we should train ourselves to have a free approach to life. This means that we should not become

slaves of our habits. It is often seen that we tend to follow the same route every day. Only a few are

found to be an exception. Habits are good to follow so far in as they give you a sense of time

management, a sense of mental discipline and a sense of compactness and order to life. Other than

this, habits have practically no value. Mental loops arising out of following our habits are to be

certainly guarded against.

For this, we should not cling on to our habits like an old man who very much clings on to his walking

stick or a man who thinks that he is holding the axis of the earth for its smooth rotation and run. Our

habits should not become a burden either to us or to the world. This is very important.

Any habit can be a flexible one for that matter. We can change our pattern of thoughts. We can re-

schedule our routine within a framework. After all, all habits are acquired ones either by external

compulsions or internal urge. External compulsions and internal urges can definitely change in the

passage of time and so, habits too are flexible. Our mind and thoughts are also flexible. So, we need


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not be so rigid in following habits. What we need is an observation of external compulsions and a

close watch of our internal urges. Thus, we can restructure the framework of our habits.

Dont fall a victim to a particular pattern of life. This can drive you to certain loops.

As a writer, I have never stuck to a particular habit of my writing schedule over the decades. It has its

own variance according to my inner urges. Everything has come on its own way in my case. Many

schedules have been followed and left out. Ultimately, the urge is the deciding factor in my case.

Again, I have not so far fallen to any mental loops. Past does not haunt me. This is very important in

anybodys case. If we can live in the Present, we can also be flexible in our habits.

Let us make our hearts like an ocean, to go beyond all the trifles of the world and see it only as a

picture. We can then enjoy it without being in any way affected by it. Habits can tie down both our

body and mind. One should know how to escape from such a bondage by applying mind and thought.

Then, success will be yours.

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On Habit - Subramanian A