Habit is Overcome by Habit

The opportunity to sit back and analyze ourselves is one often passed up in the hectic and crazy lifestyles that we maintain today, yet it's also something important if we expect to continue to improve ourselves. The assignment here is to pick a habit and break it - not exactly an easy task. When I went into my me-time therapy session, it was hard at first to narrow down my view to a small habit. Of course the largest and most difficult to overcome made themselves glaringly obvious; so, it took more time to find a small habit to break. At first I told myself that I had already broken most of my own small bad habits, but as I continued to reflect I saw that this was not the case.

So, after hours of contemplation and numerous consultations with peers, the habit I have decided to break is (drum roll, please): taking too much food at meals and then leaving a lot behind. Yes, my goal is to become a perpetual member of the "Clean Plate Club." Especially in the large cafeterias on campus, the prospect of all sorts delicious foods often makes my eyes bigger than my stomach. I will get a heaping plate of food, often leaving a fair portion behind, whether because I took too much or I took a large portion of something I didn't know if I liked. Either way, to leave that much food behind is a problem both from an environmental and a social justice standpoint. Extra food that might have been put to better use instead gets tossed (albeit composted in the dining halls.) Additionally, more food sometimes means extra bowls and plates, which require more water and energy in their cleaning.

I think that this is a habit that might not die hard, but all I can do is try my best, and hopefully, with some self restraint, I will be able to overcome the inner fat kid in me and take only what I will eat.

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"The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate out mastery - not over nature, but of ourselves." - Rachel Carson (1962)