The habit of being conscious

At the outset, please accept my greetings.

In his book titled Atomic habits, author James clear defines habit formation as 'the process by which a behaviour becomes progressively more automatic through repetition'.

As kids, teenagers and adults in Branhmacharya ( till 24 ), our parents & elders at home relentlessly try and inculcate good habits with an intent that those will stand us in good stead throughout our lifespan. A noble thought indeed. Most of us hate those moments when someone repeatedly tells us to do certain things in a certain way. Some of us do and some choose not to. When we enter the next phase of our lives , Grihasthashram ( 24-48 years) , take on various responsibilities and become accountable for our actions, good habits acquired during our earlier phase usually help us manage our day-to-day affairs both at home & work. Good habits invariably give us self-satisfaction and we therefore are tempted to repeat those to get our dopamine going. Good habits are infectious too.

External stimuli e.g. social media in these times, play a crucial role in shaping our habits, thoughts and responses. There area a whole lot of good, bad & ugly influences out there but it finally is up to an individual to be / not be affected by those, particularly the bad & ugly ones.

In my view, there is a difference between 'being forced to follow' and 'being self-aware & self-conscious to follow'. What we all are witnessing is a situation wherein the world is forced into following certain habits which incidentally have had a positive impact on our environment. But, as these restrictions are gradually being eased, which is inevitable, the bigger question is whether we believe that less air, water, noise, land pollution, responsible consumption of natural resources and an overall sense of well being is a temporary phase just because we were forced in to a lock down/ restrictions OR it is high time that we make the business of protecting our environment, a conscious habit.

Taking actions to prevent a problem is always good but it is equally important to learn from mistakes. Alarm bells keep ringing around us but if we decide to look the other way and turn a deaf ear to those, it is at our own peril.

I would be delighted to know your thoughts.

Be safe and caring.