It is said that the second half of your life is nothing more than the habits you learned in the first half.
That’s not to say you can’t adjust and form new habits. Merely, our natural tendency dictates that we will keep on doing something because that’s what we do.
So here is our reminder to step back and consider our life’s little habits and where they are leading us. We’re never too young or too old to form new habits.
Recognizing Habits
The key to auditing your habits is to step back and recognize them as what they are: daily choices, automatic reactions, and even intentional efforts.
Reading your Bible, going to work, reaching out to check on those around you – those are only the tip of the iceberg. Life’s little habits range from specific efforts such as keeping the yard pretty to inclinations that we almost don’t even give a thought to, such as that first cup of coffee in the morning.
Habits are wonderful things when we are disciplined and use them in a positive way. They can help us be prompt for meetings, remind us to pray before eating, and even keep areas tidy if we have a habit of putting things directly away instead of stacking.
But sometimes habit can become too routine. One can get too in the routine of work, home, eat, repeat. There is a wonderful security in a dependent routine, but we need to be sure to leave some room for variance and adventure! Not at the extent of sacrificing reliability. But one doesn’t want to get to fifty and realize that they were too lost in the habit of their work routine.
Now don’t get me wrong, work is important. And doing it well and wholeheartedly is vital. But so is delighting in the path in life God has you on. Looking for adventure, pausing to breath the beautiful, fresh air and change up the routine a bit. Variation can bring a whole new level of satisfaction in life!
Thought Habits
Here is an element you should also evaluate in life’s little habits: your thought habits or patterns. You know how someone you are close to either at work or home has a reaction that is annoyingly predictable? And that reaction leaves you annoyed – even though you knew it was coming? That’s a habit you are choosing. Or perhaps it’s not that you are actually choosing it, it is simply human nature. Well, this is something you are at liberty to change!
I remember forever ago going through that exact cycle and being so annoyed when it played out just as I was expecting. One day I had an ah-ha moment that helped me reset my response. And do you know that made a world of difference? We are allowed – and not only that, let’s say responsible – to choose our reactions better than that!
Thoughts are tricky things – perhaps especially for women. We are such emotional creatures. But what if we formed new habits that involved how we think about things? I’m going through a course right now and the topic is healing unhealthy thought patterns. Basically you write out any lie or negative thing that plays in your brain by default around any topic. Don’t delve too deep here, we don’t need to excavate the past. Just whatever may be on repeat that you recognize as not helpful or even not true, but there it is anyway.
Once you write it down, you write what God’s word says about it. You see you replace the lie or the negativity with truth. Perfect, beautiful, God-breathed truth. And that’s how you heal negative thought patterns and better equip yourself to serve God! Somehow putting pen to paper is another dimension to just typing or texting it out.
Our thoughts are habits that are formed over our lifetime and they have an enormous emphasis on our every day lives. Let’s make sure we are choosing our thoughts and our habits intentionally!
Life’s Little Habits
Since the habits we learned in the first half of our life play such a massive part in the second half of our lives, let’s work to choose the best habits now.
Life’s little habits have the opportunity and the responsibility to be the foundation on which we build our lives. From prayer and Bible reading, to serving others and working as unto God, to resting and enjoying where God has us. Every moment, every response, every thought is shaping you into who you are becoming.
Take some time over the next few days to intentionally evaluate and improve on your habits. We are God’s representatives and have a duty to be our best for Him and those He places around us!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. Keep reading: https://www.theamericanlady.com/2025/08/13/restore-what-is-lost/