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tion without having to think con–
sciously about it. We call these rou–
tine actions
habits.
Consider: We normally don 't
have to think about tying our shoes,
how to ride a bicycle, walking or
remembering our address.
Thus the human mind, freed
from having to consider mundane
details, can concentrate on more
demanding tasks. 1t can devote its
attention to unfamiliar, and thus
more challenging, stimuli. Habits
enable us to distinguish what is
new and potentially dangerous
from what is tried and true or
expected.
Apparently, from what re–
searchers can determine, we
record each experience
we have-each response
we make to various stim-
ber, how we perceive masculinity
and fem.ininity as we grow up-all
these are matters of habit, and they
are ingrained in us from earliest
childhood. Even a syndrome of fail–
ure can be built into a child's
psyche by unwitting, though per–
haps well-meaning, parents. And
after we grow up, unlearning bad
habits instilled from childhood can
be very difficult.
Parents need . to reinforce good
habits in their children: curiosity,
patience, willingness to accept
responsibility, eagerness to study.
Jf a good family response is asso–
ciated with the right action, the
willingness to perform the right
action is strengthened, and the
the proper place as soon as he or
she is through using them, and is
praised for doing so, the child will
develop a habit of neatness and a
desire to take good care of others'
possessions.
You can apply this idea of rein–
forcing good habits (and discour–
aging bad ones!) to many other
child-rearing situations.
How to Produce Change
Here are severa! steps, to be fol–
lowed in arder, that can help break
bad or harmful habits:
•
We must admit we have a bad
habit .
This can be extremely diffi–
cult. But it is prerequisite to that
elusive goal of personal change.
Habituation is the nat-
ural enemy of change; our
uli . The more times we
respond to certain stim–
uli in the same way, the
From what researchers can determine,
habits actually program
us to resist change. Once
a habit is ingrained, it
we record each experience
becomes invisible to the
more "worn" the neural
circuits and pathways in
the brain and nervous
we have-each response we make
to various stimuli....
conscious mind, and the
brain, free of paying
attention to the action,
system become. At last
the memory is able to
trigger an automatic re–
sponse, thought or feel–
ing to a specific stimu–
lus. Repetition is essen–
tial.
At last the memory is able to trigger
will notice only if we do
something different than
we are accustomed to
doing.
an automatic response,
thought or feeling to a specific stimulus.
•
We must see why we
do whatever wrong action
we are doing.
Honestly
evaluating ourselves is
important.
It
follows, then, that
doing something the right
way enough times- prop-
erly executing a tennis stroke, pick–
ing up after ourselves or refusing
that extra drink-builds good hab–
its. Conversely, if we choose the
wrong option enough times-pro–
crastinate about doing needed jobs,
eat too much, become impatient
quickly when our children don't
understand instructions- we will
form bad habits.
Interestingly enough, the earlier
the conditioning the stronger the
influence. In other words, it is eas–
ier to make a good habit in the first
place than to break a bad one later
on.
Relnforclng Habits
The implications of this condition–
ing process, as far as habits are con–
cerned, are tremendous. Consider,
for ·instance, their application to
child rearing.
How we learn, how we remem-
16
Repetition is essential.
right action soon becomes habit–
ual.
Still, no small child can-or
should-be completely conditioned
like sorne preschool Pavlov's dog.
Each child's own independent
thinking processes and experiences
come into play. But loving parents
can steer a child away from devel–
oping habits that will harm him or
her later on.
If
an inexperienced parent, for
example, gives a child something to
eat (or puts a bottle in the baby's
mout h, etc.) every time the child
críes, t-he child learns that food is
the cure for problems. Later in life
when the child experiences sadness,
depression or pain, he will be prone
to developing a harmful habit of
overeating.
If
on the other hand, a small
child is taught by wise parents to
put toys, clothes and dishes away in
How specific habits
form is the subject of much debate,
and in the space of this article we
cannot attempt to examine the ori–
gin of every bad habit. But numer–
ous factors come into play: child–
hood conditioning, subconscious
desires, rational or irrational fears.
The downward pull of human
nature affects us all; we are all con–
stantly bombarded with the nega–
tive thoughts, ideas and attitudes
broadcast by Satan the devil, the
"prince of the power of the air"
(Eph. 2:2). Satan's evil influence is
a root of every harmful habit man–
kind practices- warfare, sexual
promiscuity, lying.
•
We must realize that there is
a way to break the bad habit.
No
matter how powerfully motivated
to follow sorne wrong pattern, it is
possible for us to change course.
In the case of those bad habits
the Bible calls sin, the urge to lie
The PLAIN TRUTH