Distractions and that immediate happiness
How many times haven’t you promised yourself that you would stop doing something for your own good?
Have you ever wanted to stop being with someone you are no longer growing with, but for some reason or another you always end up exactly where you are? How many times did you promise to quit bad habits to start feeling better? or have you ever had an idea about work or a business but you ended up not concluding it?
Well, after these infomercial questions let’s go to the point. What these questions have in common are those continuous goals we set whenever we want to keep those promises. All these promises are part of those self-love dynamics we should be doing to start living better. It is very easy to just say everything we could do to live better during a conversation with someone while we let off steam or when we’ve reached a limit.
But why the hell is it so hard to stick to a plan? I mean, if we already know what we want and what we must do to achieve it, shouldn’t it be easier to go from one point to another?
Expectation:
I was here :) ------------------------------------------------> :) I made it to my goal.Reality: d i s t r a c t i o n s
I am here :) ᴧᴧᴧXᴧᴧᴧᴧ----0o0o0o00o--ᴧᴧᴧᴧᴧᴧᴧXᴧᴧᴧX-- > . I WANTED to get here(but I didn't make it)
Yup, that’s right, this is the great graphic I use to talk about these great distractions in our lives. Next time I promise my design team will try a little harder ;) But for now, let’s talk about what really matters.
Today I chose to talk about this subject because it is something that has often been noisy in my head. I usually go out for a walk to think more lightly and since I decided to be more aware of what I usually do, to better listen to myself and know what is it that needs my attention , I have encountered several times with this part of me that easily gives in to distractions and ends up holding back.
When you finally decide to do things for yourself as an act of self-love, considering a lot of goals that might not be met is not enough. You must understand why you do things and what for, remembering what you are exactly at this moment, with everything you like and dislike about yourself, to have clearer vision of what you would actually do for yourself. We live surrounded by countless unrequested opinions, social networks, other people’s experiences and tendencies that can confuse us and perhaps convince us to adopt goals that aren’t truly us and that may not be genuine. It is a fact that we’ll face these distractions even when we have the clearest goal.
I believe we really do know what we have to do even when we think we don’t, what happens is that we are very impatient and that impatience causes us to give in to distractions. With all the information that is shared nowadays, we have become very nosy, we always want the KnowHow for everything and we want it for now.
Sometimes we want to save some money but instead we end up spending it on clothes, party, alcohol, concerts; other times we want to be 100% committed to exercising and we forget that we all have our own rhythms, but we continuously compare ourselves to someone else’s body on Instagram; we have many plans in our heads about new businesses but then we see other similar businesses and we stop appreciating our idea; we want to eat better but the cheaper junk food makes us happier; we know that we no longer want to have that relationship with that person but the social pressure, the comfort, the daily routine, the sex or the economic situation, makes our decision harder. These are all distractions that can discourage, pressure or even make us give up to give in to the immediate happiness instead that distraction gives us. We tend to be impatient as I said, this is what impatience can make us give in to get the immediate.
I have fallen a lot of times into distractions and I always find myself starting again until I can see everything in a more objective way, understanding that this immediate happiness is only for short duration; that maybe it will solve a problem or concern at the moment, but in the long term I will remain exactly where I am. I am learning to better observe and understand that it is no worth it accepting that temporary sensation that gives us the distraction just to enjoy a little part of the benefit. One of the best things I have been practicing is to educate myself to be more aware when I am about to give in to distraction and this short happiness, thinking about everything I can get if I just practice being a little more patient with the process so that I can actually enjoy a lasting feeling of happiness and also, peace within myself.
Try focusing on everything you’ll feel when you finally go on that trip, with that car, that apartment, that new enterprise, on when you eat without worrying about your body, when you don’t have to worry anymore about being with the wrong person getting to know yourself more. Actually try to strive to visualize how you would feel, because that feeling will serve you as motivation to cheer you up on the process of reaching your goal. But also try to understand why you do things, do not wait to be happy until you reach that goal, enjoy the whole process of learning from your abilities, your patience, learn to be comprehensive with yourself and your mistakes at your own pace.
Distractions will always be there, we better start looking for the other side of the coin, to see what else we can do so that in the attempt to give us that beautiful self-love, we don’t fall into that immediate happiness. Give it a try!
#Loveyourself
LS.
