Take home lesson

[Kiwi-family]

I might be home but the journey is not over. One lesson that has been impressed on me in these few days is about the power of habit. For two and a half months I wore the same pair of shorts every day - shorts which had two buttons on the waistband. Now that I am home in beloved jeans, I keep going to undo two buttons when I take them off!
This has made me think that if there were some new habit I wanted to establish in my life, I could probably do it quite successfully by being intentionally committed to it for two or three months, and then it would have become part of me.
What do you think?

 

[C clearly]

If only it were that simple! You could probably change a trivial habit like the two-button one, quite easily. Unfortunately, most of the habits we care most about changing, are more complex.

 

[mspath]

"Action from principle — the perception and the performance of right — changes things and relations; it is essentially revolutionary, and does not consist wholly with anything which was....For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever." Henry David Thoreau, 1849

 

[gerardcarey]

Hi Rachael,
Congratulations and welcome home.
I heard what you propose once described as reprogramming your brain.
I was at a 'quit smoking' class.
The idea was that every time you thought of having a ciggie, you immediately forced yourself to think about something else.
It's a long time now since I was a 25 a day man.

Regds
Gerard

 

[GreatDane]

I listened to a radio report last week that said studies have shown it takes about 12 weeks for new habits to become permanent.

 

[OTH86]

Interesting observation Rachel!! Read some of the postings on this thread http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/how-do-people-adjust-to-home-after-their-return-from-the-camino.27747/?utm_source=Camino forum daily updates&utm_campaign=7cd9cb2a1e-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_77c0c2e9cc-7cd9cb2a1e-115699673&mc_cid=7cd9cb2a1e&mc_eid=c30962f744 and you'll see that many people apparently form new habits during their Camino. It's part of the reason I'm going back this fall - to try and recapture and re-enforce some I started on last fall.
Thanks so much for your blog, and glad to see you all are home again! You're amazing folks!!
Terry

 

[annakappa]

After having only travelled with a bag pack to Europe every year since 2007, this year we travelled to Europe for other reasons; visit 3 grandchildren in Switzerland, walk part of the Via Francigena in North Italy and attend my niece's wedding in England. We found that we have been packing so frugally when walking the Camino, that old habits died hard! We managed to fit all our belongings, plus presents, plus clothes for the wedding ( this included a formal suit for Adriaan and decent shoes for both if us) into one normal size suitcase! The weight came to 19 kgs including the suitcase! I actually returned and even found that a few items had not even been used! Anne