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  • Article Posted By: vijayjangara Posted on : 4/3/2015 8:24:41 PM

    Habit : Good servant but bad Master

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    Habit : Good servant but bad Master

    “You can’t make yourself feel positive, but you can choose how to act, and if you choose right, it builds your confidence.”

                                                                                                                            Julien Smith

    Man does not born with inherited habits but he cultivates them in the field of life. Habits can be defined as the actions that a person repeatedly does. The frequency of doing such acts is more than that the normal doings. We can’t understand that the act that we started for fun or pleasure when it became our habit. Developing a habit is a gradual process; it can’t be developed in a single day.

    Sometimes we feel ourselves in the clutches of habits can’t reach out of them. Generally the habits that we want to give up are bad habits. Every chain smoker or a routine drunkard wants to give up his habit but he is unable to do that. Here, he feels that he is servant of his habits. On the other hand if someone has good habit of talking truth we do not wish to give it up. People praise him for that.  Criss Jami rightly says in this regard:

    “An over indulgence of anything, even something as pure as water, can intoxicate.”

    Sometimes he finds himself in difficulties due to this habit but he feels satisfaction internally. Such types of good habits are called virtues.

    We must be conscious while developing our habits. Sean Convey says –

    “We become what we repeatedly do.”

    There is no doubt the above mentioned quotations are really true. If we take an example from “Mahabharata”; Udhisthara was known as “Dharamraj” and that title he did not borrow from anybody else but it was his hard labour on speaking truth. It was his Guru’s faith on him that “Drone” believed his words that “Aswathama had been killed” and left the battle field. Even his lie was taken as truth.

    In previous examples of smoker and drunkard we see that their habits are their masters but if we see the example of Udhisthara we see that he is master of his habit or we can say that his habit serves him.

    No doubt if we follow our habits they become strong but it does not mean that they can’t be give up. In this regard Samuel Johnson says: -

    “The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”

    While concluding I would like to quote “Satan” from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost Book - 1”. He says:-

    “It is better to ruin in Hell than serve in Haven”

    My motto here is we must be master of our habits whether these are good or bad. It may look odd to believe in the above statement, but here habit means you are bound to do the act, otherwise you feel too uneasy to survive. Habit of early rise and “Habit” of early sleeping are termed as the best habits, but some time these best habits become a cause of tension.  Habit of reading newspaper is also a good habit, but if due to some reason you couldn’t get the newspaper, you are in tension. Habit of getting fresh immediately after wake up is treated as the best way of starting a day, but if the toilet or lavatory is preoccupied, the habit becomes a cause of worry. A man, who acquired habit of drinking milk before going to bed, may feel uneasy or sleepless if doesn’t get milk. “Habit” of going for a walk in the morning or evening is also termed as good habits, but if it couldn’t be possible due to any reason, you feel uneasy. These are some of the examples of those “habits” which are tern1ed as good habits, said to be foundation of success, and prosperity, basis of good health and long life. Habit of any kind if becomes our master it is bad, if the habit is under our control, under our service, it will serve our good purpose.

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