I believe this is very true. Humans generally, and modern Westerners especially, very much like the concept of “change,” the emotional rush, the feeling it gives when we think about it and experience it. It’s not necessarily in every case bad, but it can be and, I’d argue, it usually is. People are inclined to this kind of thinking/attitude.
It’s like when you live in a medium sized town that has generally prospered over the years with good jobs and functioning, good government and good schools and cheap electricity that suddenly gets a Starbucks and half the town freaks out and talks about it nonstop for four months. Then you realize that Mrs. Sandy’s Cafe, open since 1958 and owned by that woman who goes to your church, is going out of business. Six people are laid off and Starbucks only hires three or four new workers. Was it worth it? Really? But hey, the coffee’s two cents cheaper and service is ten seconds faster and the building is trendier inside! Ugh. I err on the side of caution.
I’m very skeptical of change. I don’t trust it. It has to prove itself. It has to prove that it is unequivocally better than what came before. That doesn’t mean I don’t like new things. I do like new things, but I just tend to be very careful so that I don’t ruin something or myself.
The feeling of newness and change is addictive, a drug.
I would say that “sameness” is even more addictive, or at least equally as addictive.
One of the things that dietitians suggest for those of us who are trying to eat healthier is to CHANGE our habits. Many of us eat the way we do out of habit, and it has become “addictive” (psychologically and emotionally).
E.g., we drive to work and get into the habit of stopping by the All Day Donut for a donut and coffee. Or perhaps on the drive home from work or school, we drive through the McDonald’s for a cone (only 170 calories-big deal, right?). The problem is, for those like me who really can’t afford to be eating extra calories, these little “habits” can add up to several pounds gained over a year.
What the dietitians suggest is simply changing the route. Drive to work down a different street other than the donut shop. When we aren’t “triggered” by the “stimulus” of driving by the donut shop or the McDonald’s, then we are often able to avoid the “habit” of stopping for a treat.
This even applies to our home. If we are used to reading in the evening and enjoying cookies while we read, stop reading. Do something else. Use the evening as the time to go to Adoration instead of sitting home reading. Or play with the kids instead. Or do some light housework or yardwork. Work on a hobby. Call a friend on the phone.
The idea is to break the habit. One pitfall is that it takes at least 40 days of repetition to break a habit, and that’s tough for people who are trying to lose weight. We want to lose it all now!
Another pitfall is that it is very hard to give up our “addiction” (usually psychological) to our habit. We are very resistant to change, and see it as threatening or “not as satisfying” as our usual habit.
I testify that I have learned to associate various foods with various good occasions. E.g., the donut in the morning is a sweet start to what often is a very busy day. I see the donut (no coffee, BTW) as a relaxing “just-for-me” time. Unfortunately the donut is around 350 calories, and this means that over a period of ten days, I will gain a pound. This amounts to approx. 35 pounds a year. Hmm.
For other people who are not addicted, the donut means nothing. Or it might mean a fatty, greasy piece of dough that sits in their stomach like a baseball. Or it might mean a a too-sweet pastry that makes their head spin.
These people have a hard time relating to people like me, and I certainly can’t relate to them. For me, there is no such thing as “too sweet.” I was in a restaurant this week, and I watched the waitress fill the sugar containers, and thought, “I could eat all the sugar in that container, two cups worth. No problem. Yummy!”
I’m sure others would be disgusted by the very thought of eating that much sugar.
So I have to play mental games to convince the logical side of my brain that the donut is NOT the only way to have a relaxing, sweet start to my morning. I can have a peppermint as I drive to work (on a different route than the donut shop). I can sip a diet pepsi and do CAF (which is what I usually do). I don’t NEED to have a donut to relax.
Do y’all see what I’m getting at here? I’m not just talking about donuts and sugar. Do you see how people differ and how hard it is for people to understand each other’s differences? All too often, we tend to look down on other people because they are different than us. OR…we look down on their “habit.” For someone who is physically active (e.g., my daughter who runs 10 miles a day), one donut a day isn’t going to hurt them, and the extra calories will probably be useful to them.
Also, do you see how doing things the same way is a very comforting and safe way to be, and many people simply can’t break the “addiction”, or maybe the more accurate word is “habituation” to a certain way of living. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, as long as the habit that they are “addicted” to is a good habit.
