Repurposing the Pathway
Our brains catch on quickly.
Think of all the existing pathways that allow you to function automatically without paying much attention.
Getting up, going to the bathroom, brushing your teeth, getting ready, eating food, drinking coffee, and driving to work—you barely notice how all of this is happening.
There was a time when you had to learn to do all that!
Most of our daily routines are well-worn habits we don't even pay much attention to (said after putting the phone down after 30 minutes of watching silly reels).
As I've mentioned, I am no doctor or psychologist, but please allow me to share my recently acquired internet-searched knowledge of the concept of a habit loop.
A habit loop consists of three things:
Cue
Action
Reward
For example:
Cue - I wake up, start overthinking everything happening right now, and begin worrying and worse-case-scenario-ing.
Action - Pick up the phone and start scrolling
Reward - Receive jolts of dopamine from the distraction and feel better
Boom - pathway created.
Most mornings, I must confess that I start my day by grabbing my phone and scrolling.
Ewe. Time. Wasted.
According to professionals, the best way to repurpose the path of a habit loop is to adjust the cues that set off the habit in the first place. By altering the cue, the typical action and the reward aren't likely to follow.
A better example:
Cue: I wake up and start thinking about what I am grateful for—a bed, a great pillow, new sheets, air conditioning, a ceiling fan, lovely carpeting, my husband, my children, and just being alive (not necessarily in that order).
Action: Get out of bed and throw your phone out the window. I'm kidding.
How about this instead: Get out of bed, get some water and coffee, go to your desk, and begin writing.
Reward: Dopamine jolt from gratitude and productivity.
I've been considering making some additional changes, such as adding exercise after writing or moving my phone to another side of the room to remove the cue of distraction.
You get the idea.
Changing the cue makes good sense, but as I write this morning, I thought about the cues of life that we have no control over and how sometimes the actions are the part that needs altering.
For example:
Cue: Another person doesn't treat me kindly.
Action: Overthink, obsess, call numerous people to retell the story
Reward: Dopamine jolt from the attention and affirmation.
Yikes. That last part stings a little bit.
A better example:
Cue: Another person doesn't treat me kindly.
Action: Pray to God and seek His counsel. Ask God to give you perspective and wisdom on how you should proceed.
Reward: Feel calm and peaceful (perhaps an influx of serotonin?)
Choosing to repurpose our habit loops can create new pathways of pleasure and peace.
Ask God to show you some pathways and loops that might need repurposing.
It might take some work, but hey, we are worth it!
If this procrastinating princess can do it, anyone can. Trust me on that.
2 Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Ephesians 4: 20-24
That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for?
The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you.
God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.