Are Your Deceptive Desires Slowly Killing You

Small choices now create big changes later

Our drive to LIKE something comes from a series of different beliefs and desires we possess at any given moment compelling us to act on those desires.

But there is a problem.

We tend to lump all desires, into a big melting pot of similarities without distinguishing whether or not they are even good for us.

Like explaining the difference between vegetables and candy to a toddler…

Each desire can be closely related to the next, blending the meanings into similar values, so we are drawn to pick the easy low-hanging fruit and leave the harder to reach ones to chance.

For instance…

• We would LIKE to succeed in business.
• We would LIKE to be in a perfect relationship.
• We would LIKE to be the ultimate embodiment of our core selves and who we truly want to be.

With this concept stretching over all aspects of our desired projections, we subconsciously expect those likes to materialize, but with very little success. So why is it that we fail in this quest to fulfill our good desires?

I believe the short answer is this —

We also LIKE to kill an enormous amount of time doing things that counteract those other likes listed above, and it’s these opposing likes that are sabotaging the desired likes that we would rather ultimately possess.

• Yes, we would like to be successful but we also LIKE to play video games or browse endlessly on our favorite social media platforms.
• We would like to have a rather sizable bank account but we also LIKE to shop every time we think we need the latest and greatest.
• We would like to be disciplined in our chosen profession but also LIKE to amuse ourselves parked in front of the T.V.
• We would like to have a tack sharp, totally focused mind, but also LIKE to indulge in mind-altering substances.

I’m sure you can relate to your own list of things, and no doubt this list can be an entirely separate book on its own.

So what do we do about it?

• First is the recognition between the two separate forms of likes/desires and realizing they are fighting for dominance inside your subconscious mind almost every second of the day.
• The act of recognizing them will pull them into your consciousness where you can act on it and be able to do something about it.
• Also, recognize the differences in that one is long-term, one is short-term, and we are almost always prone to choose the short-term because of a pesky little impatient brain monkey called instant gratification.

The quickest way to separate them from this point forward is to make a solid conscious decision to stop yourself whenever you recognize you’re settling for the lesser of the two.

Continuously asking yourself the tougher questions, like;

• Is this a short-term, selfish, unhealthy, self-sabotaging, I give up, time-killing, entertaining, unproductive, instantly gratifying, “LIKE”? Or
• Is this a long-term, selfless, healthy, self-preserving, keep going, investment, educational, productive, patient, “LIKE”?

If you think about it, have you noticed that almost every one of the short-term choices either leave you wanting more, pacify you with a temporary feeling, never satisfy your real desires, never bring you to a place of lasting peace or something to be proud of?

Only the long-term goals that have been reached through dedication and hard work will ever really satisfy the deeper parts of your soul.

To be clear, not every single short-term desire is bad for you and I’m not suggesting you should give up everything that has the potential to be bad for you, but the point here is to be aware of the things that are good but not good for you.

Try to focus more on the long-term desires more than the short-term while still allowing for some semblance of sanity with the quick little treasures on occasion.

Winding it up,…

The “surface happy” selfish part of ourselves, I’ll call our outer flesh, always tries to get you to focus on the instant gratification or the short-term. The path that almost always renders a temporary outcome and leaves you searching for more.

And the more established selfless part of ourselves, I’ll call our inner spirit, always tries to get you to focus on the delayed gratification or the long-term path to patience. The path that almost always renders a deep lasting peace.

Once you master the art of separating the two, consciously aware & continuously choosing to act on the most productive likes/desires, and then disciplining yourself to, at least, significantly reduce instant gratification to the point where it’s inside your conscious control, & not as an automatic fallback for an insecurity bandage.

If you’re thinking right now that this seems like a lot of work that can’t be accomplished by “someone as weak as me”, — or so you tell yourself, — this is the voice of instant gratification speaking through your submission to the habitual subconscious.

Or in other words, it’s nothing more than a bad habit like smoking, drug use, or excessive drinking, — and habits can be broken, — and will be broken by creating better habits.

Just remember, all habits are not bad ones.

For instance, you are perfectly capable of being a habitual non-smoker, a habitually fluent violinist, or an extremely successful business owner through practicing the routines necessary to get there.

Instead of reaching for a cigarette (bad habit), reach for a book (good habit) to create a newer, better one.

Every time you recognize another bad habit, mentally, physically, emotionally, financially, vocationally, socially, or spiritually, make a note of it and immediately think of ways you can replace it with a more productive, positive, better way to think, act, and do it.

It’s just a matter of trading one habit for another.

Thank you so much for your time, if you’ve found this helpful, I would love to stay in touch, click HERE to be informed of my next article. If you could find it in your heart to contribute to my cause, or just want to buy me a coffee, click HERE.

Lastly, if you are an aspiring reader or writer you can join me on Medium for unlimited informative and interesting stories by this link below. Thanks again.

Much Love. Rick