I have been taking our 13 year old son Brian to Manhattan to get some pitching lessons the past couple of months. One of the first things the instructor did was to evaluate Brian's pitching motion. At the end of the first lesson, the instructor told Brian that he could easily add 10 mph to his pitching speed, just by changing his mechanics. Unfortunately, this meant that he would have to teach his body to forget all the things he had learned over the past 13 years, and develop a new "habit" of pitching with a different motion. He said the only way to train his mind and body to do this was to do certain exercises and drills over and over again. Eventually, the new mechanics will take over and replace the old ones. Hopefully, Brian will reap the results of his new mechanics and have a fastball in the 80 to 85 mph range. Not bad for a 13 year old!!
I have been told that a habit, either good or bad, takes about 30 days to develop. Likewise, it takes about 30 days to break a habit. We all are creatures of habit, doing things over and over until they are forged in our minds. Oftentimes, we don't even realize some of the things we are doing!!
1 Corinthians 9: 27 says "I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should...." By being consistent in our prayer life, by studying God's Word daily, by always being aware of opportunities for God's service, we develop habits that make us more effective Christians. Let's look at our habits in our lives and decide if we need to change any of them, or maybe even add new ones that will make us better people!!
3 comments:
Yep..... you should be writing for The Upper Room. Why don't your submit some of your stuff.
Definitely true words of wisdom. I have found it enormously difficult to develop better habits of reading my Bible and spending time with God, though I view it as extremely important.
I thought it was interesting to hear that habits can be made or broken in 30 days. That doesn't seem so impossible, to practice a new habit for 30 days, and then basically be able to let it flow. I have a very bad habit I would love to break--the habit of biting my fingernails. I am skeptical of the 30-day time barrier because I have tried on numerous occasions to quit, finding success for a while, and then falling back. Most significantly were three blocks of time, nine months each, when I was pregnant, and it made me feel nauseous to bite my nails. So I abstained for all those months, determined not to succum to the habit once my babies were born, but I always slipped back into the habit shortly after delivering! Maybe I'm trying too hard to do it on my own...
Regardless, I'll be rooting for Brian that he finds the discipline to improve his pitching (though I understand he's pretty good already!).
Good stuff on your blog. I've been out and about and am now catching up. Writing for Upper Room? Wow!
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