Do our habits prevent us from seeing things as they really are? Each phenomenon (how impersonal and indifferent it is) is always looking to sustain itself.
Am I right when I say that—in the same way—our habit patterns are obstacles that prevent/hinder us from seeing things as they really are because they fuel the fire of self?
Habits and patterns are like the water streams carving paths on earth when it rains. So when it rains again, the water follows the same paths. There's no self in the rainwater that made the paths and the rainwater that followed the existing paths. It's a process of causes and effect.

If habits are self, why is it hard to get rid of them? ex: smoking, drinking etc.
And why do good habits need to be cultivated?