matter

Good Habits And Bad Habits; How To Tell The Difference and Why They Matter​?

/ Chase Blosser / Leave a comment

Habit – a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior, an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary

What are your #good #habits; what are your #bad habits? Do you know which are which? We all have patterns, some like brushing our teeth, taking a shower once or twice a day in mornings #and evening, or even what times of day we have our meals. All of these are examples of habits that we may perform day in and day out without much though if any put into doing them. We also tend #to develop both useful and bad habits; yet #how do we #tell which is which?

Good habits are those small repetitive things that we regularly do over time and don’t pay attention to our doing of them. #They lead to good results and longterm behaviors over time, such as brushing one’s teeth every day in #the morning and at night before going to bed, which helps protect us from getting cavities and losing our teeth. Or working out at the gym or going for a jog every day in the morning not only helps us stay in shape but allows us to start our day off on a high note with momentum for the rest of the day.

Bad habits on the other hand, as the name suggests, are just the opposite and are those small repetitive things that we do on a regular basis without much thought. They lead us down a spiraling path of self-destruction that negatively impacts our lives and sometimes even those around us. A perfect example of a nasty and destructive habit is smoking. Now I am not talking about the casual smoker of Sugars or even cigarettes that only smokes every so often and rarely at that, no what I am talking about is the one or two pack of cigarettes a day habit (i.e., addiction).

The one or two pack a day habit is the perfect example of a bad habit that starts as a small thing done regularly over time but then adds up and spirals out of control into self-destruction. We already know about the long-term health consequences to lifetime smokers, but it is a lot more than just that. Smoking a pack or two a day is a costly ($) habit. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes is $5.51 with the most expensive being $12.85. Let’s see; there are 365 days in a year, 365 x 5.51 = $2011.15 for one year worth of smoking on a pack a day at the cheapest cost on average.

According to the CDC about 25.3% of adults who live below the poverty line smoke. Think about that right there, the destructive habit of smoking could (and most likely does) very well be attributing to poverty in the United States. You take out that habit and bingo that is (if your addiction was the one pack a day) automatically $2011.15 in yearly savings. That can go a long way of improving ones financel lot in life.

Learning to save your money and spend wisely is the actual key to getting more wealth. If you look at almost any financially well-off/rich person/people throughout history and in today’s world, I guarantee that has played and continues to play a significant role in their wealth management. Wisely saving and managing one’s money is an excellent example of a good habit that leads to positive results.

So, good habits are those little things done regularly over time that leads to positive results in one’s life. Bad habits are just the opposite leading to negative consequences for the individual and in the case of smoking society as well.  Makes you think does it not; on just what small habits you and I may have that are either leading us to succeed in life or down a destructive path does it not? Darren Hardy in his book “The Compound Effect does an outstanding job of further exploring this very topic and showing how we can better manage our habits.

So what are your thoughts and viewpoints on this #matter? What are your good and bad habits? Please do share them, all are welcomed and wanted!

 

 

 

 

“Open Doors” Matter

/ Chase Blosser / Leave a comment

This is a response to the one-word prompt “Gate” by “The Daily Post.”

Do you want to connect with your community and those around you? Do want to help grow your church, business, and/or organization you are a part of? Then you need to make sure that your “door” is always “#open.” That is, in order to be inviting and attract people to you and/or your organization, then you need to have an openness to you/your organization’s personality.

It does not #matter how much effort you put into getting the word out there about your organization, if once people “get there” they don’t “feel” invited. As humans, we are all “social animals” that is we crave social interaction and attention. Thus, if one goes about life with an “open door” personality saying “come let’s have a conversation” then one is more likely to make friends, connections, and bring in new people for one’s organization.

Being open also shows others that you are “real” and “authentic” and are more likely to connect on their level. There is just something to be said about someone who is “open” or joyful and shows it. A good example is my church’s new pastor,  she always has this “joist air” about her, and you can’t help but feel it and catch some of that joyfulness as well, in conversations. Having and showing an open door is very much like a “wave of sunshine” falling on you after you get out after falling into a lake or river of freezing cold water.

When we meet new people and/or join an orginization, we want, no we need to feel invited and wanted.  Warm welcome of joyful friends

We can’t feel that when the person/people on the other end are either ambelvelent or just for some reson unwelcoming. In welcoming people in through the “open door” one needs to be more and do more than just saying welcome and directing them “inside.” There needs to be a real ethustism that just “bleeds” from you into the air around you and the peole you are welcoming.

In getting to know others and/or welcoming them into your home, church, orginization, etc., you need to actually get to know them; to get to know their likes, dislikes, needs, and so forth. Or at the very least make it known that you are willing, able, and actually wanting to do so. When you do this, then they will want to get to know you in the same way, and thus you have the begenings of a real, long, and fruitful friendship, and/or very productive working relastionship.

We are very much in a divided world to day, in our politics, faith and so forth that we are unwilling to “open our #doors” and let people in that don’t confirm to our own beliefs and expectations. 

Unfortinatly, that only creates and feeds an ever growing cycle of more devisiveness and devsion. This is not the natural and atended state of human behavior/exsistence. We as social aniamls, are ment to get along and be happy together. That is how God attended life for us and wants life to be for us; for us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind; and to Love your neibor as yourself.” Matthew 22:36-39. We can do much to correct this imbalence in our world and daily lives, in our commmunities/societies if we just learn to “open our doors” more to others.

So do you have and present an “open door” to others when first meeting them and in all your interactions with them? Why or why not? And if so, how do you make sure you have  and show an “open door?” What are your thougths on the matter? Please do share them; they are very much wanted and creaved here!