permanent solution, temporary challenge

 The first car best friend ever owned was old (old=in excess of 12 years when she purchased it for $1K), and as old cars go, it came with quirks. A particular quirk I recall pertained to this car's dashboard fuel warning light.

With most rides, if that low fuel dash light illuminates, and you have a few miles, and a few minutes, before you run out of gas. There's ample time to find fuel. For my friend's new-old car, this warning light came on about five seconds before she was officially out of gasoline, and her car would shut off. You can imagine how vigilant she adapted to become at watching her fuel gauge.

Consequently, even longer after this friend had sold this car, she remained hyper-aware of the fuel gauge. It didn't matter that she was no longer driving this first car. It did not matter that her subsequent cars didn't have this quirk. Her habit became permanent. It outlasted the temporary situation that necessitated it.

And this has me pondering. 

So many of my habits that I've adopted and fused together for living life are a guard against some very particular challenge I previously encountered. You probably do this too. The temporary challenge is long since gone, but my permanent habit remains.

Is it necessary that I double-knot my shoelaces every day?? 

Must I always be super slow to open up to new friends? 

When using paper plates, must I always stack a few together to increase the durability (ie I dropped a paper plate of food once as a kid, and thus, a permanent solution was born to never again only use one paper plate, to save myself the embarrassment). 

Must I always be so circumspect about trying new things? 

Does it serve me well to not tell people whether I'm attending an event, or what my plans are? 

Some of these solutions have served me well, and sometimes, they've held me back. There is wisdom in applying lessons learned, but also wisdom in not misapplying these lessons.

So I tripped once in junior high school because my shoes became untied, and it was in front of a lot of peers. Doesn't necessarily mean I need to double-knot, every day forever.

What do you do permanently in your everyday life that's actually because of a temporary challenge you once encountered? Does it serve you well to continue that permanent solution? 

Think on this--