Cranking a Car I No Longer Own

I gave my car to charity in 1999 when I found out I was moving to New York City. I have not owned a car since. But about three times a month, as I run for the subway, I pull out my keys. A charming cognitive relic of my past life.

I suppose that shows how hard it is to break a habit. In my minds more primal parts I am going somewhere so I need my car keys. 1999 brain meet 2009--you, happily, have no car to crank.

Among the things this tells me, it tells me that habits are hard to break. Habits serve a function as automated thoughts so we don't have to be rethink every action we take every day. The down side of this is that undoing those automatic thoughts is an on-going challenge. I don't own a car, don't want one. BUT I still feel the occasional need to crank one up.

What are your antiquated and ingrained thoughts? What do you struggle with to deconstruct? Whatever it is change comes hard. Keep struggling and give yourself a break as you work to move from a past-focused mind to one set on the present and the future.