After her breakfast my cat, who is 21, has a habit of meowing loudly until I lie down on the sofa for her to sit on me. When I’ve been away for a few days the meow is even more persistent and loud. If I foolishly head for my home office first she’ll sit in the lounge and meow until she gets my attention, or she has been known to come to the office to meow. After a few years of this routine, and after a while of sofa nap sitting, I’d extricate myself from under her and then wrap the throw around to make a warm and snug basket-like structure for her. She’ll then sleep there for the rest of the morning. Of recent weeks I’ve noticed the speed with which she curls into a ball once I’m gone, and now wonder if the meowing is a means to get the warm basket-like structure, not the nap sitting in between as it started off as. This is how our habits are made, reactions to stimulus that over time can become more and more elaborate and unconscious routines. It’s only by bringing these habits into conscious awareness that we can get insight about their efficacy, and have choice about our future action. It’s why this month I’m doing something different every day - to bring into conscious awareness habits that may be hindering my progress.
#letsgetzagging
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