30 Days
As most things often do, it started on accident.
I realized on the third day of classes this semester that I had inadvertently wore a tie each of those days. In itself wearing a tie was not unusual, but it was unusual to wear one days in succession. I've been told that if you do anything for 30 days it becomes a habit. If that's the case I suppose I can consider what started out as an accident, that then turned into a friendly challenge, is now a habit.
My habits are deeply embedded within me.
Like the code of a website, though we might be personally aware of our habits, unless one goes digging for them the outside world will only see the final working product. I rarely break free of the cycles and patterns that, in recent years, I have realized have becomes so deeply ingrained in me.
You might be thinking 'You got that from wearing a tie for 30 days?'
Well, I could have kept this superficial. I could have explained how I realized I don't have enough ties or collared shirts to really mix things up much - so I felt like I was always wearing the same thing. Or the playful banter from friends who noticed I was wearing one when we met up at night. Or the catch 22 of being a youth pastor and the battle of what to wear that can occur in some congregations.
But after a few weeks, a feeling began to develop - I never felt fully ready if I wasn't wearing a tie. It somehow 'completed' me. This simple act of adding a small piece of fabric to my normal wardrobe changed things. Quite literally, the only thing that changed in my appearance was the tie - my shirts remained untucked with the sleeves rolled up and pair with a pair of Levis. Yet, I felt more prepared for the day...
... and in some ways, I took myself more serious.
And some times it felt like others took me more serious. Or maybe I was simply trusting myself more.
Did simply starting one habit granted me more confidence?
Do simple habits and acts actually have the power to change our posture in life?
It would be easy to get into a pattern of simply taking on more 'positive' things in hopes that they too become habits and patterns in my life. But the reality is there are probably just as many buried habits of negative influence that require the same amount of attention. Am I willing to name, examine, and remove them in the same outward manner? Would you?
But that might be the next right step, to invite my community - those trusted individuals - into both my good and dark spaces. To name me. To point both the good and bad tendencies and qualities, to then step together in the long process of becoming the person God made us to be.
So what will you do with your next 30 days? What might you take on or let go and see what results?
Because you never know, you might even get to wear a tie.