Smart, energetic people sometimes forget (or never learn) the value of habit. You welcome the choices each moment presents, and you don't mind investing the effort that it takes to pay attention and steer your way mindfully through every day and every week. It's very hard, though, to live a good life that way: deciding in a fully conscious way every morning whether to brush your teeth, whether to turn on the radio, whether to go outside and get the paper, isn't likely to produce the greatest number of good decisions over a long period of time; we forget that our own judgment is often momentarily impaired. It's better to steer your habits, and let your habits steer the details of your behavior.
Or at least that's my take on the value of habit today, having made a fully conscious and unwise decision this morning not to take a shower.
http://www.brecheen.org/cbrecheen/Entry2001-03-05.htm; © 2001 Cole Brecheen; All Rights Reserved.