FIELD NOTES #014

Each day, you rise and repeat, because loops run deeper than willpower. They begin beneath the surface, buried in memory, emotion, and flesh. And unless those loops are examined, they remain in control—silent tyrants shaping your habits, your home, and your heart.

In The Compass, we name the pattern with precision:

The Behavior Loop

Stimulus - Sensation - Response - Result

1. Stimulus is the spark.
   It might be a raised voice. A scent. A time of day.
   Or something quieter—fatigue, loneliness, a familiar ache.
   The loop always begins with something.

2. Sensation is what your body does next.
   Tightness in the chest. Heat in the face. Hollow in the stomach.
   It’s quick. It’s visceral. It’s ancient.
   And it narrows your freedom to what you’ve rehearsed.

3. Response is your reaction.
   You yell. You isolate. You scroll. You eat.
   Or, you breathe. You pause. You pray. This is the fork. The test. The turning point.

4. Result is the outcome of the response. This is what either cements the old loop or begins to carve a new one.

Repetition without reflection becomes bondage. And that bondage robs us of the life that God intends for us by trapping us in well-grooved pattern rooted in spiritual illness. Bondage to unhealthy eating habits, to sedentary or self-destructive lifestyles, to idleness and excess and ills of all shapes and sizes. You don’t need a new personality, you need a new pattern. And that patten is shaped one repetition at a time.

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WEEKLY COMPASS QUESTION:

“What loop am I most often caught in and what response could I begin to practice instead?”

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TRAIL TASK: The Pattern Audit

1. Track one loop for 3 consecutive days.

2. Write down: the trigger, the bodily sensation, your usual response, and the result.

3. Prayerfully choose one alternative response: something simple, virtuous, and repeatable.

4. Practice that response—on purpose, even once. That’s the break in the chain.

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You’re not condemned to your old reactions.
But you are called to watchfulness.
And loops can be rewired—when you stop reacting and start responding.
Not just by effort.
But by grace.

Until next time -
In Christ - Engage. Adapt. Overcome.
- Remy