Forming New Habits June 9, 12. #12
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May 31st, as I was walking Sheba, I realised that it was actually a pleasure to walk her! There was a little tug at the leash as she wanted to go a little faster than her Oma (just a little mind you! :)) But for the most part she was walking alongside me and enjoying the time as much as I was. Thanks Lord for helping me persevere.
It kind of got me thinking…. A few weeks before this I had determined that I did not want to have a dog who controlled me and that it would be a pleasure to walk her and in order for me to do that I was going to have to “rehabilitate Sheba and train myself” (This is how Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, puts it.) This of course is a new habit. It takes a lot of courage to form a new habit, because usually there is an old habit, which is a bad one, that needs to be changed!
So what is an easy way of changing a habit? Ahhh… don’t we always want that? An easy way! Well, with all the reading I have done, and tapes I have listened to, I have begun to realise that there is now easy way! It is always work! The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary! And to get over that thought, to make up your mind that you are determined, to purpose in your heart (As Charles Stanley says) is step number one. 
Step 2… recognise when the old habit is there, in my case… getting frustrated with Sheba and pulling her and telling her to stop. The more I did that the more she would pull. So recognise when the undesired behaviour is there.
Step 3… STOP and THINK “I do not need to react like this!” This is VERY important, for if one does not realise that one is able to stop that behaviour, then one won’t!
Step 4 is very closely linked to step 3, you see… as one is thinking ” I do not need to react like this,” one needs to have the beneficial behaviour in mind already. Something that will help alleviate the situation.
So in my example… I am walking the dog and she is pulling. I start to get frustrated as she is just about pulling my arm out of its socket and it hurts and it is certainly not fun. So I begin to get frustrated with the dog and tell her to stop, I pull her backwards hoping she will stop but it really only exacurbates the problem. She pulls all the harder! I start to tell her that I will not walk her anymore and firstly she does not understand that and secondly that would certainly not help as no walks would make a really unsatisfied dog which in turn would cause other problems.
This is where I need to recognise the behaviour and stop and think “I do not need to do this, what is it that will help alleviate the situation?” And this is when I would draw on the knowledge that I have gathered about walking dogs in an orderly fashion from the internet or puppy classes or TV shows.
Well, this is what I had purposed in my heart to do a few weeks before and praise the Lord… that morning Sheba was actually a pleasure to walk. And now a few weeks after that, the new habit is getting easier. I challenge you to find a habit that is no good, that is not getting you anywhere. You see, doing the same thing over and over and expecting new results is one of the definitions of insanity! I have been insane and God is changing me. I would love to hear about how God is working in your life. Drop me a line.
This last week I started a new job and so have hardly been home. I will get into better routine again once I am trained and am working my proper hours.
Blessings till next time…B:):)
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