Consider the following and you'll get
a pretty good idea as to why some
people have a hard time breaking bad habits.First, they don't see a need to quit.
From smoking to drugs,
from sex to drinking,
the bottom line is simple when it comes to quitting:
if you don't see a NEED to quit,
if you don't see that what you're doing is having a negative impact on your family, yourself, and others,
if you don't see that what you are doing is going to
really mess you up,then there's no use in going any further in trying to quit.
Anxiety creates change.
Being anxious about what you're doing is the starting point to breaking any bad habit.
Second,
they don't have the desire to quit.
Desire and Need are two different things.
Desire is how bad you want something.
In other words, how bad do you want to quit your habit?Not only must you see a need to quite,
but you must also have the desire to want to do it.I may, for example, see a need to quit smoking but don't really have the desire to do so.
If you're going to quit smoking, or anything else for that matter, you must really want to quit and want to quit so bad that you'll do what it takes to break the habit.
This is hard because doing what it takes to overcome a bad habit takes sacrifice;
that is, going through some pain and suffering in order to stop what you are doing. Like I said, not easy.
But then again, how bad do you want it?
Third,
they don't have an understanding
as to what drives their urges towards a bad habit.To help you break a bad habit, it would be really helpful to know what drives the urge to do what you do. If you think about it, it don't take no great psychological explanation.
Two things drive the urge of your bad habit:
Your MIND and your FLESH BODY.
The key to breaking any bad habit starts in the MIND. When some people have the urge to do something wrong, they try to control their body instead of starting with their mind.
Let me show you what I mean:
Lets say your habit is overeating:
Your mother brings home a chocolate cake from the store and puts it on the table. Before leaving the room to go to a neighbors house, she says to you that you can have a piece. Knowing that you have to cut back on eating and loose weight, you at first reject the notion of having a piece.
But then things start to happen:
FIRST: The flesh body sees the cake.
SECOND: The flesh body chemically reacts to what you see by craving for a piece of that cake. It then sends a message to the brain about how good the cake looks.
THIRD: From here, your brain forms an image of the cake, possibly of you eating it, and how good it would taste if you had a piece.
FOURTH: This in turn chemically excites the body even more, causing a stronger craving or urge for the cake.
And then back to the brain, and so on.
This whole process doesn't take long and if allowed to continue, no doubt you will be eating that cake.
So, the bottom line here is simple:
DISCIPLINE YOUR MIND
AND THE BODY WILL FOLLOW.
If you don't allow the mind to create images of those habits you're trying to break, the body won't react.
How do you do this?
Well,
the first thing you need to do is to remove yourself
from the temptation. In this case,
If you are trying to quit smoking marijuana,
If you are trying to quit drinking,
Can’t put it any clearer than this.I know this sounds like common sense to most,
but you’d be surprised at the number of people
who put themselves right in the middle
of the habit they are trying to quit.Like I said,
it’s not easy to break away from habits.You want to hang out with friends,
you want a piece of that cake,
you want to satisfy the flesh.
This is only human.But then again, it all comes down to
how important it is for you to quit
and
how much desire you have to do so.It's your life.
It's your habit.
It's your choice.
E-mail the author about any questions
or comments you may have
or
about your experiences
regarding this topic.Your information may be
posted on this site
and
may be of some help
to other teens.All e-mails are strictly confidential.
No names will be used.
In this web site, teenage issues and problems
such as pregnancy, suicide, depression,
teen sex and abstinence, divorce and family
problems along with making the right choices
in life are discussed.
