Are we a product of our...

Are we products of our habits?

Do we live our lives habitually? Is there some point- when we get the job that we want, the mate that we want, the house that we want- where we stop thinking about what is going on and we just "do" without having to think? Can we turn into automated humans even before we get to the place that is our goal?

How often do you think about what you're doing and why you're doing it? For example, I go to the bathroom regularly, just as anyone else might. Just like anyone else, once I step through the doorway I turn on the lights. Why? Is it because I need light? No. During the day the window gives more than enough light to read by, or do anything else that i might be doing. Actually, at night I intentionally don't turn on the light because it hurts my eyes, so in actuality I never NEED the light. The amount of extra light I would have in the daytime is negligible. So, why do I turn the light on? Because I have been doing it for over 20 years. So, what if I don't turn the light on? Will that change things? No. Its not about turning the light on or off every time. Its about thinking about what is going on around me, deciding if I need the light, and then making conscious, in the moment decisions about my actions. What would happen if this became the norm instead of habitual action? I would become less of a machine, less of a creature acting on impulses programmed into head by years of repetition.

Are we products of our emotions?

Two days ago I was a victim of theft. My bikes were stolen. Given the option, I would have inflicted bodily harm on the people who did this. I have thought a great deal about this. Something inside me, deep down inside, makes me want to hurt them. I feel anger and revulsion towards these two people I don't even know, and I want to harm them. Some describe this as "seeing red." As I experience this feeling, I wonder to myself what then is the difference between me and a predator given the option to kill prey. They too do not think about peripheral circumstances and have only one purpose, one feeling. They want to hurt something else.

Although I am not terribly upset at the loss of my bikes, the premise still angers me. And yet, as a Christian, I wonder how to conquer or rise above my base feeling. I wonder if I do indeed ever come across my bikes, with someone else on them, what will I do? Will I be overcome by anger and lash out? Or can I not be a product of this dangerous emotion?

I am thinking a lot about the bikes, and since I have the power to think about people in order to come across them, I think i might see my bikes again. So, time will tell the answers to my questions....