WHAT YOU CAN'T CONTROL...

It is just this thing about habits, you see, it is so hard to get rid of them.
Habits can make or unmake you. Will Durant puts it better. He has this to say about habits,

We are what we repeatedly do.Excellence then is not an act but a habit.

This invariably means that failure is also not an act but a habit.

But habits are something we are hardly aware of. I dare say that habits are out of our voluntary control. Some habits are like reflex. How does one get rid of reflex?

Practice

Yes, practice. It starts from an act before it becomes a habit. So when you repeatedly do an act it becomes a habit.

This nursing textbook I am reading has this to say.

...it takes 2 to 3 months for the taste buds to adapt to changes in salt intake...

Thus everyday for two to three months anybody who wants to lower his or her salt intake must avoid foods high in sodium or salt like pizza, sandwhiches, canned foods and the like. And these are what I call easy foods. They are readily accessible and does not take hours to make. It will take a whole lot of will power and hardwork for this person to rewire his mind and adjust to healthy levels of salt intake.

For some, if not most parts of the world, gone are the days when mankind was enslaved by kings and rulers who dictated and controlled their way of life. These days what controls us is a lot more subtle...so much so that (like reflex) we may not even have an idea as to the extent of the influence they have over us.

Social media, print media and a whole lot of other media largely influence us to the point where they control us.

Take Back Control

As I have already said, it takes a lot of will power and hardwork. Whatever it is that you want to control will need a whole lot of effort and dedication from you. But for many, including myself, there can just not be enough intrinsic motivation to aid us in our bid to break from the control of certain habits.

So for most days, I look to God. Other days, I look to family. And there are times when I take a good look at how the world is turning and I want to do better.

Because let's face it. The very things we can't control, control us.