Habits...

As some of you may or may not know I've been taking a class to become an EMT.  So far so good, as long as I can pass a few more tests I'll be certified as an EMT(and that is a big IF).  As part of my class I have to spend some time in an ER and riding along in an ambulance.  The past 2 weekends I've spent 16 hours divided between Jennie and Mercy Hospitals in Council Bluffs.  I have learned a lot,  but what has struck me is the habits that people get in and can't get out of.  Like I'm one to talk much though...I have more than a few bad habits that I'd like to stop but I can't, and I'd like to implement a few better habits but can't.  But what I've seen amazes me.

A patient comes into the ER with complaints of chest pain.  The pain was a 9 out of 10, which is pretty bad, and he/she was really scared.  After running some quick tests it was determined the patient wasn't having a massive heart attack, but the patient still needed to wait for some blood work to be done to see if a minor heart attack had occurred.  I imagine the only minor heart attack is one that happens to someone else!  As we're waiting for the results the nurse and I get some history from the patient.  The history sounds like this: smoker, diabetic, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, no exercise, poor diet, heart attack in December last year, father died of massive heart attack as did the patient's mother.  Holy Cow!  Walking time bomb.

I kept thinking to myself how many signs does this patient need to let him/her know that maybe it's time to change his/her lifestyle before it's too late?  I mean really...this patient had every risk factor known for heart disease and he/she wasn't controlling the risk factors he/she could eliminate.  Why?  Are habits that hard to break?  Does it take surviving 3 "minor" heart attacks to change your lifestyle?  Maybe it takes a major heart attack before things will change.

I know I find it hard to change a habit unless I see immediate results or the negative effects of the habit are hurting me right now.  I struggled forever starting and sticking to a diet until I finally committed to one and saw results.  I fail sticking to it now because the results aren't as obvious and maintaining isn't as exciting as losing.  Other habits I'd like to start are difficult because the payoff isn't going to come until well into the future, such as saving more for retirement or a house eventually.  We humans like immediate gratification.  And sometimes working on our relationship with God doesn't seem to pay off immediately.  We don't get the immediate answer to our prayers, or at least the answer we think we need/deserve, and we don't get an immediate voice or light from heaven.  Sometimes the pay off doesn't come later until we really need that connection and the time and effort put into building it pays off.  It is hard for me, and I'm going to assume others, to get into habits that don't payoff immediately, such as tithing to church, having a strong prayer and devotional life, and so on and so on.  We don't see immediate results so we wait until there is a disaster and then turn to God in prayer and maybe we give more of our time and of ourselves for awhile, but after the immediate threat is gone we fall away again.  Would a stronger relationship before the disaster kept it at bay? Probably not, but having a strong foundation to stand on helps in all aspects of life instead of struggling when crisis occur and you'd wish you had something more solid to stand on.

Just as staying healthy is an investment in our future, building our relationship with God is an investment in our future.  Let's hope that by being proactive now we don't have to have a crisis to turn our attention to what's important and shift our focus.  Can we make it a priority now to spend some time getting to know God better and making that a habit?  Build a solid foundation now and it is less likely to crumble in the future.