Habits

There is a great amount of similarity in the habit programs working in the mind and software programs working in the computers. We can consciously write our habit programs but most often we do not create these programs as every user of the computer do not write or design software program for working on computer. (We just buy software programs and use these. Sometime these are automatically purchased with the purchase of a hardware gadget. One more variety is the free software available on the internet.) We use many habit programs in our mind , as we use many software programs in a computer which work in the background to do our jobs. It is not relevant that who has created the program.

The two most important aspect of both type of these programs are-

‘What is that program doing?’ &
‘Is it relevant & economic to be used in our current circumstances?’

Habits and software programs both work on logical principles. In both the cases the work is a back end work. The user deals with its front end counterpart which is hardware devices or mind in the human body. Many times the user is unaware of the presence or existence of these programs.

Ever since we take birth, we are constantly programmed for habits by the prevailing social or domestic way of working in the area of our interest. We may even inherit some of the habit programs due to our unique position in the society/family. In our formative years, we learn new ways of doing things for first time and this technique is available as a habit program in our mind to be reused. As we grow up and come out of protection provided to us we also learn new ways of doing things in the area of our influence. The new learnt habit programs are initiated while old programs which are not relevant or economic are switched off. This acquisition of knowledge is a continuous process in the life of a person. As we keep adding new software programs in the secondary memory of the computer system, in a similar way we keep adding programs to our unconscious mind.

As we face situations in life, we keep on learning new techniques or refine the existing one. After repeated use of a technique it becomes a habit. Once the habit is formed, we stop paying attention to that aspect and use this mechanism as a resource. But when this process is applied to a situation, it is a logical (conditional) arrangement and well defined process.

Both the software programs & habits are harmless in their dormant state. These show their true colors in primary memory/mind when triggered and activated. These two entities are neither good nor bad by themselves. These are just ‘ways to work’. It can prove to be good or bad in the light of inner agenda of desires and prevailing outer circumstances. Therefore , these must be judged dynamically with reference of these two forces and not by any fixed standards.