2am Banana Bread
It’s barely New Year’s Day… when I say barely, I mean 2 am. Okay so, It’s barely New Year’s Day and everyone is thinking about New Year’s resolutions and I’m thinking about my husband’s banana bread he made this morning. There’s still quite a bit left and it’s calling my name. This is where I’m faced with a dilemma. Do I succumb to my desires or do I use self-control in a moment of weakness?
Maybe you’ve been there, too? I don’t know what your enticement is, maybe it’s food, maybe it’s being glued to the couch, or maybe it’s a lust of some nature. No matter what calls your name, there’s this moment where we think about it for sometimes the briefest of seconds before we make our decision. I’ve discovered a trick that helps me in that tiny tid-bit of time in between me wanting a not great choice and victory – yes even victory over banana bread at 2am.
It goes something like this. I’m imagining myself eating the bread, but I have this thought that maybe carbs at 2am isn’t the healthiest decision in the world for me. But I want the bread. So, what I do is picture myself afterward and what I will feel like after I follow through with my choice. I picture myself with a very full tummy, I see myself feeling kind of yucky having to sleep on a belly full of carbs, and I picture myself pathetically wishing I had made a healthier choice.
I think sometimes where we miss the mark is that we stop at the struggle of feeling like we want the bread but knowing it’s not good for us. Our feelings of desire at the moment win out because we are thinking on what we presently want. But, if we would just take it a step further to how we are going to feel after we follow through, we are now considering that our present feelings may not be trustworthy.
I’ve done this with a Netflix show before. I’m totally into it, there’s another episode just waiting for me to click. I desperately want to find out what happens next even though it’s 2am… why does everything happen to me at 2am?!? Anyway, instead of plunging forward, I picture how I’m going to feel the next day having to wake up and take care of my children. I picture myself with a sleepy headache, and feeling like crap while being forced to be a functional adult! It just makes turning the power off a little bit easier.
Joyce Meyer has said, “Wisdom is making choices today that will benefit us in the future”. This is wisdom, to consider how this will affect us afterward. I don’t want to work out, but I picture how good and strong I’m going to feel after I’m finished! I want that second piece of pie, but I picture how disappointed in myself I’m going to feel afterward. I don’t want to clean the bathroom, but I picture how amazing it will feel to walk in and see a sparkling toilet! I may see an area of lust reaching out to me, but oh the regret I can save myself if I think about how embarrassed or ashamed I will feel if I act on it.
There’s always the feelings that come after the choices we make. Wisdom is thinking on how we are going to feel – whether for the good or bad – after we’ve made our choice.. Be kind to your future you!
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