“We like to laugh off our bad habits as “personality traits.” But that doesn’t change the truth: They are habits—destructive habits that need to be broken

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 103). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition.

I know we look at the beginning of the New Year as a time to make New Year’s resolutions. It could be a good thing if we were really serious.

I mean, it was amazing to see all the new people out walking in the mall today. Of course they could have just been there because they had the day off but they at least were trying to do something about their health. I found it interesting to see one man who took a long walk and then as I went outside I saw him smoking. Of course my temptation was to get something sweet to reward me for my effort. Sucking smoke into my lungs has never been a temptation but eating a Vanilla Cream Filled Donut from Dunkin is extremely hard to resist. r

Oh of course the reason to smoke is because they have an introspective personality and it helps them relax or the donut habit means I am fun loving and outgoing and I want to enjoy my life. But the reality is both of those bad habits are taking years off of our lives and we need to quit making excuses and stop, no matter the reasons we use or how difficult it is.

Another bad habit is the habit of always looking at life from a depressing negative viewpoint. Now I am a born pessimist and a perfectionist but somewhere in my life I decided that I didn’t want to use that as an excuse for the bad habit of always being sad and discourage so I set out to change that bad habit. I also was a person who was a loner and insecure in one on one situations but I decided that was a bad habit so I set about to change. Both of those haven't been easy to change but I have changed. I also haven't had a Vanilla Cream Filled Donut at Dunkin Donut in a long time. Maybe i did have one on Thanksgiving Day.

So what bad habit are you excusing because of a personality trait? So why don’t you decided to set out this year to change?

Why not start today?

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