Habit, Habit, Whose Got the Habit?

Why are habits so hard to form? Good ones, I mean. The bad ones seem to slip into my life and get firmly lodged without my even noticing. One common piece of advice is to do something for thirty days and then it will be a habit and you won't have to think about it anymore. Okay. That may be true, but for years now, decades really, I haven't been able to do anything for an entire month that wasn't life-sustaining. Right now, yet again, I'm trying to make exercise a daily habit, rather than an occasional event. I take a couple of days to convince myself that it's a great idea and one day I begin. So far so good. Day Two almost always happens and Day Three fairly often. Then things get a little dicey. Any thirty-day stretch on my calendar resembles an obstacle course. There are open spaces and there are roadblocks. There are always days that are stacked with appointments like a block tower that's ready to collapse. When one of those comes along, I have to miss that day. Then the next day develops issues and I don't even remember to try to find time. Now I'm up to Day Six and I've lost what little momentum I had and have to start again. Probably in a couple of days. Even on the occasions when I've gotten a good start of several weeks--this has happened once or twice--after a while something comes up, a vacation, a round of house guests or a brief hospital stay and, of course, I stop exercising. The trouble is, the exercises have been effective enough that I'm feeling good and don't think about restarting. I'm trying to catch-up with all the regular stuff that was postponed. Somehow exercise slips through the cracks. But I'm feeling hopeful now. Another piece of advice is to exercise with a friend. This has never worked long-term for me since my friends' lives are just as complicated as mine, but in a completely different rhythm. We're lucky if we can find an over-lapping bit of time to meet for lunch once a month, never mind every day. But recently a friend with similar needs suggested that we report in to each other by text whether or not we accomplished our goals. We're providing support without having to be in the same place at the same time. So far so good. I'm coming up on the end of the second week with a perfect score. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it's not for any of the good reasons. It's pride. I don't want to have to announce that I failed. On the other hand, it's working, so I'm not going to knock it. And, you know, that pain in my back just might be feeling better.