Habits

 I started a book about habits, how to overcome bad ones, and how to make new ones. I didn't finish it, which is one of my bad habits.

I didn't think I had many bad habits until the author pointed out that a bad habit is something that stops you from being all you can be!

Looking at it like that made me realize that I have a number of behaviors that could be considered bad habits.

One that is very obvious is staying up late watching TV.

This habit started when I was teaching in the evenings. My work day was from about 4 o'clock to 9 or 10 o'clock.  Usually, Hisao would teach a bit when it was time for the kids to go to bed, but other than that I was working in the evenings. After I finished teaching I would be too wound up to go straight to bed. So I would watch TV or videos with Hisao. I remember Hisao driving all over the city to get "X-Files" videos. He would come back with a "Jackie Pack", a video (or 3), diet coke, chips, and chocolate. We would then watch TV until 2 or 3am!!

This became a habit, a way of relaxing after a long day!  At that time it was okay, I think I needed it. Now, however, I'm not that busy, I only teach two or three days a week, so I don't need to stay up late to watch TV. I should go to bed early and get up early because there is so much to be done. I can't clear out the land at night!!!!  

One thing I realized the other day, is that I think watching TV in the morning is a waste of time! Why don't I think it's a waste of time to stay up late and watch TV?

Another bad habit, which is related to the first one, is sleeping in the afternoon.  Again this started when I was teaching a lot. I felt I needed energy to deal with the young kids. Some of my classes were 6 to 8 kids, who were either hyper after school or totally exhausted!  Never in between!  I felt I needed to be on top of things otherwise it was just chaos! I needed to sleep to have the energy to keep going. Now however I don't. I should try to make better use of my time. I realize that sometimes I sleep in the day to escape from things, but at the same time, I feel the passing of time! I'm not going to get those afternoons back!

One more bad habit that I noticed the other day is collecting things to do later. I'm talking about study materials, both physical and online or crafting materials. When we were cleaning out the storage I found a bag that had some material and a pattern inside. I bought this when Mikey was 2 years old, I planned on learning how to sew but never got around to it!  I found balls of wool, other pieces of material, and loads of books about sewing, knitting, and crocheting. I've done a bit of knitting and am teaching myself how to crochet but not enough to justify all that I've bought.

The same goes for my Japanese study. I have dozens of books that are still new!  I bought one book when I first came to Japan, so about 34 years ago and it still looks completely new. The book I bought to teach English, at the same time, has been replaced a number of times! 

I do the same with web pages, I bookmark so many because they look like a good way to learn Japanese only to never go back to them! I have over 6000 books on my Kindle (all free downloads), but the only ones I read are the novels. I have cookbooks which I check and write out any recipes that I could use but other books are just sitting there, self-help, Japanese study, how to write, and of course loads of craft books.  

I keep saying I'll start tomorrow but as Mom always said "Tomorrow never comes".  

Maybe it would be better to set a goal, until this date I must study this book, kind of thing. Use the time that I usually sleep in the afternoon to better use!

I want to promote better habits. Make smarter choices in how I use my time!  Stopping all those bad habits a once is a daunting task!  But trying to do one thing should start a domino effect on the other bad habits. So I'm going to try and stop my late-night TV habit! Get to bed at a sensible time and get up at a better time, and stay up!

I'll let you know how it goes!

I'm still talking to the mountain in the morning. Since I've started to do this I've noticed the subtle changes on the mountain. The weather is slowly warming up, the green on the mountain is more vibrant in the sun but even on the odd rainy day there is a beauty there.

I took this photo the other morning when it had been raining. So beautiful with the mist hanging over the mountain. 

misty mountains

This is the view from my bedroom window! I want to cut down more of the bushes so I can see the mountain more clearly!