today than tomorrow."
Proverb
Have you ever tried giving up something you really love.....like cigarettes, alcohol, candy, junk food, coffee, complaining, gossiping, spending too much money, shopping, gambling or watching hours of TV?
Quitting can often seem incredibly hard, so much that we don't want to put ourselves through the suffering that comes with quitting something that we love.
So what is often standing in our way of changing our behavior? One thing is that often we don't believe that we can't do it. We have tried several times before without success and we don't want to repeat that feeling again. The feeling of being a "failure."
At first when you want to give up something that you rely on, it seems easy. "Yes I can do this...... and this isn't bad at all." Actually it might make you feel excited about it.
But then after a while and things get a little tough your mind start to shout, "This is too hard, I can't do this, It is way too much work and I want to give up." You tell yourself "Just cheating once won't matter. "Just once won't hurt anything..... No one will ever find out."
But in the long run it will matter. One neglect often leads to another and yet another.
You can totally fix this. To be able to be successful you must first examine your beliefs and then you have to change them. Our beliefs are changeable. Change your beliefs is the starting point and then you have to self-experiment with those new beliefs. Maybe you felt like those old beliefs were true but so are your new beliefs, because you tried them out and they worked.
The suffering of withdrawal from actual physical addiction like sugar, caffeine, junk food or cigarettes really only lasts a short period of time. But remember that there are also a lot other things that are very tough that we have gone through and made it through.....like the death of a loved one, child birth, losing a job, maybe running a marathon, starting a new business. Things are never as hard as we think they are going to be. Tough times will eventually make us stronger and make us better than before.
Find a few strategies that will work for you. If you are trying to quit smoking or drinking don't hang out with you friends that like to go to bars. If you are trying to lose weight stay away from eating out and instead cook your meals at home.
Learn a few tricks to get through when your urge hits.
One big problem with quitting something is that a lot of times we use our addictions as a coping mechanism. It is our way of dealing with our problems. When we feeling sad, angry, stressed, neglected, not loved, socializing in uncomfortable situations, disappointed or going through a crisis..... we often use the addiction to cope.
A few tips that might help. If you feel stressed go for a walk or a run. Get outside in nature. Talk to other people about your situation and maybe they can help. If you are feeling sad, remind yourself that it is OK to sometimes have this feeling. Life isn't always happy moments. It includes sadness too.
Practice gratitude for what you have in your life. Call a friend. If you are in the middle of a crisis you might want to learn from it. What is it here to tell me? Be curious. There is usually always a reason why it is happening. Get away from the crisis, even if it only for a few minutes. Walk outside, meditate or spend some time out in your garden. It will give you some breathing room and it will give you a new perspective.
Quitting something that you have done for a long time is very hard. But NOT quitting bad habits, addiction and neglect is actually harder. Because if you don't you might have to deal with bigger problems in the future like health problems, excess weight, job loss, money problems or relationship problems.
Using unhealthy habits as a form of avoiding our feelings is only going to give you a temporary relief. They never take away the problem and they can actually make the problem worse.
A little suffering and discipline today..... so that you can avoid years of pain and regret later in life.
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