Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
The Habit Dance
If you aspire to the highest place, it is no shame to stop at the second, or even the third.
Cicero
When I was young, in high school and college, I really thought that if I just worked hard enough, I would achieve perfection. If you had asked me, I’m sure I would have demurred, and said that I didn’t really expect to be perfect, but in my heart, I thought I could do it: If I just worked a little harder and ate a little less.
Now that I’m older and, theoretically, wiser, I think it’s more of a dance. My diet is better than it was, but I don’t exercise like I used to; I don’t buy as many clothes as I used to, but I’m not as exacting about how my closets are arranged. I improve one habit and let another one lapse. This month I’m working on exercising more and ordering in less, both things I feel I have slacked off on lately.
I used to be hard on myself, thinking that I should just be able to pile one good habit on top of another like a perfectionist’s game of Jenga, but habits aren’t wooden blocks. The good news is that even when I backslide, I don’t slip all the way back. For example, even though I am not as anti-carb as I was two years ago, I still eat far fewer carbs than I did three years ago.
So just because you didn’t stick to your plan to empty your inbox every day last month or went shopping for something you didn’t need, it doesn’t mean you should pack it in. Life is an endless opportunity for self-improvement. Knowing we are never going to be perfect is no reason to stop trying, because in the trying, we will get better.