I strive every day to understand people and the world we live in and often I come up with an answer. Well, this time I’m stuck and I might need your help. I came up with the conclusion that we are the only “animals” on planet Earth who are consciously hurting ourselves. Since we are able to make decisions and live with the consequences, we seem to be in constant pursuit of hurting ourselves. It is as if we want to be in pain. Now my question is, why? Let me explain to you what I mean.
Let’s take for example a regular person who tries to get in shape. We are all familiar with the struggle people go through to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And my question is, why are we struggling? Why do people struggle with something as vital as living a healthy and longer life? Why is something so important a struggle?
Okay, let’s say you have made a decision to get in shape. You have consciously decided to eat healthier from now on. That’s great. How is that making you feel? I’m sure it helps you make you feel good about yourself. How many times have you decided to go for what’s good for you and your goals instead giving in to certain cravings? If you are like most people, you probably did it quite often and I congratulate you for that. So far so good…
Now, let me ask you this. How many times have you had a healthy meal but wished you had had something different, something you crave? There’s no doubt that at some point you’ve said or heard someone saying out loud, “I wish I could have mashed potatoes instead of steamed veggies?” This is just to give a little example. I don’t have to be a psychic to guess that it has been many times. Knowing that a particular craving is not in alignment with your goals, why still crave it? Why are you still wishing to have or do certain thing knowing that eventually it’s going to hurt you? It’s like saying, I wish I could have a little poison every day and, hopefully, one day that’s going to kill me. It makes no sense. Why do we go for short term rewards versus long term consequences?
In this case, we cannot call it subconscious sabotage anymore since we’re talking out loud about it. Every day we’re telling ourselves, and others, what our self-destroying wishes are. We need, for once, to start paying attention to what we’re saying. What is our message? How many times have you made public your sabotaging wishes? Once you acknowledge your thought process, you’ll be able to start shifting it towards to what you want to accomplish. You need to believe that what you are doing is right for you. Treating yourself right needs to become a priority to you.
Let’s now compare our behavior with a wild animal. How many times have you seen a lion eating grass knowing that it will slow him down? How many times have you seen an animal eating the wrong food knowing that it eventually will kill him or disable its surviving skills? Not many. Since we are the most intelligent living species on earth, why are we consciously doing so much harm to ourselves? In order to gain control we need to control our cravings.
You’re probably saying that craving is a chemical reaction, but I have to disagree with you. I will tell you a personal story to prove the opposite.
Every morning I wake up and have a cup of coffee. I add a splash of Half and Half and two (very little) bags of Splenda. Since I know Splenda is not good for me (in the long term), I still make the choice to have it. It helps the coffee taste better. However, today I wake up and start pursuing my usual habit when all of a sudden, I ask myself, “Why are you doing this to yourself?” Knowing that Splenda’s not good for me, why do I choose to have it? Big wake-up call. Immediately I put the Splenda back on the shelf and say to myself: “You will love the coffee without it as well.” I made the CHOICE to love the coffee without my usual artificial sweetener. Guess what? It worked.
Believe it or not, I didn’t even notice the difference. My desire to pursue a healthy lifestyle was stronger than the crave itself. I don’t believe in cravings. If you give in to your cravings, your goal it’s strong enough to compete with them. Bottom line; control your life by controlling your cravings. There are a few ways you can do that.
Like any other fight, we all do better when we know who we’re fighting. When the craving takes over our mind and our spirit, it becomes us. It’s harder when you need to fight with yourself; therefore take yourself out of the picture. Give the craving an identity. Give the craving a face and body or even a name — usually a name you hate… like “Bad Boy/Girl.” When craving takes over, you become a different person. You become that “Bad Boy” or that “Bad Girl.”
We all have an ideal person we want to become. Every person has a goal for himself or herself in terms of who they want to be or become in the future. Now picture yourself that person. Fast forward into the future and picture yourself “skinny, rich, successful, married” or whatever you want to be or become. You can even give it a name like “Smarter Mike” or “Skinny Tammy.” That’s who you want to be in your future. Now you look back at becoming that craving. You’re becoming that “Bad Boy.” Every time you have a craving that is not in alignment with who you want to be or become ask yourself, “What would smart Mike do now?’” or, “Would skinny Tammy eat that right now?” Acknowledge that you are doing this to yourself.
Seek the answer and regain control. Hold the power. Keep the “Smart Mike,” “Skinny Tammy” or whatever you want to be or become on your sight. Don’t ever take your eyes off the prize. Eventually you will become the person you always wanted to be. Eventually you and “Smart Mike” or “Skinny Tammy” will be the same person. It’s an exercise like any other. The more you practice it the better you will get at it. That is the ultimate accomplishment.










