“Your deepest desire,” he observes, “is the one manifested by your daily life and habits.” This is because our action—our doing—bubbles up from our loves, which, as we’ve observed, are habits we’ve acquired through the practices we’re immersed in. That means the formation of my loves and desires can be happening “under the hood” of consciousness. I might be learning to love a telos (goals) that I’m not even aware of and that nonetheless governs my life in unconscious ways.”

James K. Smith, author of the book “You Are What you Love”

 

I was never a huge fan of PE class back in high school, ESPECIALLY in high
school. With all due respect to everyone I met there, I enjoyed and am grateful
of the education I received there but the PE was just an exception. Yet little did
I know that the very 90 minutes I dread for 3 years, would turn to be something
I am utterly grateful for 4 years down the road.

When it comes to sports, my school was the real deal. Over the course of 3
years, I have (did my best attempt to) swim on an Olympic-sized pool, running on
what seems like countless (now this is lebay) laps on a legit running track under
the scorching Tangerang sun, did  ‘olahraga darat’ aka HIIT workout on the field.

As if those things were not enough, every students were to submit a weekly
health journal which basically is a My Fitness Pal on papers, minus the calorie
counting. We are to note down every meals eaten from breakfast to dinner,
sleeping & wake up time, and the exercise done for the week. Back then, I
find the whole journaling thing very pointless, it felt like a chore to me as I
have way ‘better things’ to do than spend 10 minutes of my day writing it down
until one day.

As a 16-year-old, I was not the most health-conscious person and so I did
not actually track every single thing yet tried my very best to remember and
write everything I did the whole week before submitting it an hour before the
week’s PE class (ha!).

It was in 11th grade when the teacher lectured us after one or some of us (can’t
remember) handed in an empty journal. It was not a good day for the teacher but
what the teacher said was quite life-changing to me (loosely paraphrased):

“(Writing on this journal) was not about how much or little, or how
‘green’ your plate of the week may look like. It’s not even about the number of
reps you did for a workout, but the point of writing this is to be holistic.
The right way to approach writing this is by asking yourself, how does
everything I wrote down in this journal reflect me as a whole human being?“
(then goes on another hour of lecture, with a viewing of one motivational YouTube
video)

A simple, yet an eye-opening rhetorical question that makes the 16-year-old
me think.

Without the correct approach or correct questions, this whole journaling
thing is as pointless, as mundane if I merely fill it to the brim for the sake
of submitting it.

It forces me to be self-reflective, or what people these days like to call, having
intentionality about the seemingly simple habits or ‘rituals’ I immerse
myself to day in and day out.

Whether or not I like it, the everyday things like sleeping, waking up,
exercising, eating do actually affect me in 5, 10, 15 years down the road.

I learned this the hard way though, I made poor lifestyle choices back in
the days, and still suffer from its consequences up to this day. Back in uni,
late night frozen meals, pizza, and ice cream tubs were my best friend, well at
least that’s what I thought. I did gain the freshman 15! I justified those the
need for extra sweets to finish the whole paper in one night before realizing that
I was stuck in a circular motion of unhealthy eating behaviors that has mental,
physical and relational consequences too.

Back then when I decide to have a lifestyle switch, it brought to light the
very lecture from high school which lead to me forcing myself to ask the
right questions, like,

‘how does pulling an all-nighter and eating my whole fridge reflect me as a
whole human being?’.

I realize that the first action step  to a lifestyle change is by asking the
right questions or motives, by doing so, I am being intentional
about why is it that I do what I do.

Guess this is not something we can all learn from the mainstream media
nowadays that merely focus on the  so-called ideal two-digit number on the
scale as the right intention to working workout and eating healthy. In the
end, I managed to lose the weight without losing my mind. How? Easier said that
done ha. Not saying that it’s not important. It is, but a healthy weight is
merely a side effect and not the end all be all.

Living intentionally. How or what does it look like practically? Well, it
can look different for everyone.

It can be as simple as waking up early to have a slow morning instead of
jumping to the day’s work,

dedicating a set schedule to exercise daily (how is that simple?!),

walking the dog everyday for 30 minutes and the list could go on and on,

drinking 2L of water daily,

logging off all social media after a certain hour,

having a creative outlet by singing, dancing, and so on and so forth

Whatever it is that you do from your waking to sleeping, you do it with the
right INTENTIONS rather than doing it as a necessary evil.

In practice, achieving good habits are not as overwhelming and unrealistic
as they appear to be on media.

I learned that the best way to do so is by being specific, as bite-sized as
they can be. Like the famous S.M.A.R.T, as Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Realistic yet Timely.

Before this turn into your typical motivational lecture, to simply put it, instead
of saying:

‘I have to exercise 3x this week’, try ‘I have to walk outside for 15
minutes from Monday to Wednesday this week’.

Instead of ‘Wake up early this week’, try saying ‘Wake up at 6AM every
morning’  

Yet as noble or positive a goal may sound like, every good habit will feel
like another chore (just like what I did when writing down that PE journal) without
the right intentions. So try asking again,

Why do I have to walk outside for 15 minutes from Monday to Wednesday?

Why do I have to wake up at 6AM every morning?

Just like the eye-opening rhetorical question the teacher asked us that day,
I am ending this reflection of mine with some of them too.

At the end of the day, living with the right intentions by cultivating good
habit is not about appearing more productive than the next guy, nor is it about
being our ‘very best version of ourselves’ but really, our lifestyle exhibits ,
and is both an answer and response to some of the ‘existential’ questions:

What is it that I do with the life I have been given for?,

Whose narrative am I living in?

How does doing/saying/seeing X,Y,Z reflect a life that does justice, love
kindness and walk humbly with God? (Mic. 6:8)

 

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23)