Instant Gratification



Instant gratification. It's instant, and it's gratification. But is it REALLY gratifying? Or does it move you further away from the things you really want in life? Here's a short list of some instant gratifications:
Coffee
TV
Short-term relationships
Sweets
Junk food of any kind
videos
social media
alcohol

If I asked you to, could you tell me over the past week how much junk food you ate? How many hours you spent on social media, or watching videos? Maybe, maybe not. Many of us do these things so often, and without giving them much thought, and we really don't pay attention to how much these things fill up our lives.

The reason I'm writing this article, is to tell you something you already know. Instant gratification will not make your life better. Instant gratifications are a very short-cut way to feel good. “I may be sad that I'm not in a happy relationship, but at least I can watch a movie about a happy couple!” or “I might feel sad that I'm overweight, and not following my dreams, but this piece of cake will make me happy for a few minutes!” They are ways to get to a feeling fast. Unfortunately, most instant gratifications will only get us further away from the things that will make us happy in the long run. I'm not saying it's wrong to have some sweets at a birthday, or once in a while. But doing these things all the time, in place of other things that are going to make life better-well that's not good at all.

Years ago, I was working as a waitress. I decided to go on a diet, no sweets (which I was highly addicted to). I realized that every time a customer upset me, I was turning around to take a bite of something sweet. I had no idea I was doing this! For some reason, the feeling of having a little tiny taste of something sweet was comforting to me. I would ask you to look for the same in your life. Is there anything you're avoiding? Anything that you choose to cover up by eating, drinking or watching?

Continually hitting the instant gratification button, is how to avoid what is really, truly bothering us. Eating those sweets, was a way to feel better instantly rather than working on my assertiveness and my feelings, which is what would make my life happier and better in the long run.

I'm not writing this to ask you to stop and replace all of the things you are doing to instantly gratify yourself. But I will ask you to do this-one time today, instead of reaching for a sweet, a beer, facebook. I ask that you instead, think about the top thing that's on your mind. The top thing you wish was better, want to be better, and take one small, bite-sized step. You tell your partner you want to go to counseling, you ask your boss for a day off, or look into which gym you're going to get a membership from. Okay, so some of those are bigger bites. I don't know what is on your heart to make better in your life. But now is the time to do it. So, go out there. DO the things that are going to TRULY make you happy, don't just put a band aid on the problem for a few minutes. You got this!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Red Flags

Image
It's been on my mind lately to talk about red flags.  We all know about them, we've all heard of them, but do we really know what they are?  Some of us, without a doubt, can see one, and know for certain they've hit a red flag.  And for some, it's a dead stop in a relationship or situation.  While others, will recognize it as a red flag, but proceed forward anyway.  Still others, will not even know they've come across a red flag.  Now, red flags can be deceiving, and what one might think is, another would not.  I thought it would be helpful to call some out here, and some what I'll call "pink" flags which means not necessarily a "terrible" sign, but something to be cautious about. Red Flags: Does not ever see any person from their family Does not pay child support for their kids Pushes, hits, kicks or in any way physically abuses you Goes for several days without contacting you back, without reason You catch him/her in a flat out lie ...
Read more

10 Things for Single Moms to Do While Sheltering in Place

Image
Find time for yourself For any mom, it can be quite difficult to find time to spend alone. However, if you have the ability to do that, I highly recommend it. For me that looks like waking up at 5 am. I know that schedule doesn't work for everyone (I do also go to bed early). However, I cherish this time. I have time to drink my herbal tea, read my Bible, journal, work on my business..It is a life-changing time. It can be easier as the kids get older. When they are so small, babies especially, you might feel like you're doing everything you can just to keep them fed and clean. I get that. And if that's you, please know that the best thing you can do for yourself, is to be kind. Know that this is a highly demanding time in your life, and it will get easier. However if and when you can, take the time to be by yourself, it is so helpful, and so worth it. Spend quality time with your kids I know this sounds so obvious. Most of us are with our kids ...
Read more

5 Things to Figure Out if You Are Single

Image
I read a book awhile back, called The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. It's a great book and I highly recommend it. One of my takeaways from that book was something he said about relationships. He mentioned there was a time in his life where he was single, and he really wanted to find the right person. He knew what he wanted, but he didn't know EXACTLY what he wanted. So he decided to write it all down. He decided to write everything down about her down to how exactly she would look. Then he asked himself something along the lines of “Now who do I have to become to attract this kind of woman?” The reason I bring up this part of his book, is that a lot of times people date to find “the perfect mate,” but they don't even know what that really is for them. They have some idea, but when they come face to face with someone they want to date, it then gets tricky. They may allow things they may not have thought they'd ever allow because there is this sort of...
Read more