Developing Random Habits

Some say it takes twenty-one days to develop a habit though I suspect this refers to good habits only, as I know that over the course of my lifetime I have managed to develop plenty of bad habits in way less than that time (which fits in well with St Augustine's observation that habit, if not resisted soon becomes necessity). Yet while living life like a free flowing electron in a nuclear reactor has certain many attractions, I can also see the value in developing 'necessary' habits that provide anchor points along life's random path. 


Lao-tzu famously  said that A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So far in the last week since committing to our big walk I have calculated that we have already taken well over 100,000 steps and the journey is feeling great. [And no I'm not going to wax lyrical here about one small step for man one giant step for mankind ;-)]


Last night we sat with Peri and Joel, who have committed to come on this adventure with us, and started planning for our first big team walk. On Sunday 30 October we are planning walking on the 7 bridges walk from Rozelle, to Hunters Hill, to Lane Cove, to Wollstonecraft, to Milsons Point to the Rocks to Pymont and back to Rozelle. 


What was great about our planning was the excitement that started to build between us all as we talked about not just this walk but the big one looming in the not too distant future. Instead of being daunted by going 100km in one hit we became pumped and the commitment to the goal grew. None of us have ever walked that far and though we have all stayed awake for a day or two at times walking through the night is going to be a new experience for all of us.


And what was even more fantastic was that we all had the same view about the journey. Part of the adventure for us is not just following the Coast Trek text book. The training has to be fun if it's going to become a habit. And by way of contradiction it also has keep being fresh and surprising. Doing the same thing over and over every day is just not something any of us are good at. We want to have random adventures with unseen events that challenge us to become more that who we are.


So here's to the next 100,000 steps who knows where they are going to lead us!