Discipline versus Temptations or Joy versus Obstacles?

As human beings we have at least one thing in common: happiness, feeling good, excitement, short term and long term. After all life is not about the number of breaths you take, but rather about the number of breath taking moments.

But are we aware of what that really means? What does happiness mean for you, both short term and long term?

Short term could be a cup of tea or coffee in the morning and long term health.

However I think that most of the time we are quite mistaken about the two.

Short term happiness is often related to an instant satisfaction in order to feel good. This could be music, sex, alcohol, sugar, nicotine, caffeine and even practicing sports.

Now some are more beneficial than others, but why we are constantly looking for those daily ‘gratifications’ instead of having a constant inner peace and why cannot we be happy for no reason?

Long term happiness is often related to security, like having money, insurances, a good job, having a relation, a house with or without mortgage and so on. However we know that we can ‘lose’ all those things as life goes along.

We often relate our happiness with people we surround us with. In other words, we compare. Something I would definitely not suggest. It will probably make you the most unhappy person in the world.

As a child we have been told many things that we should do and what we shouldn’t. What few of us have been told is that the most important thing in life is joy, feeling happy. The second is probably helping others (which also creates joy).

Joy, feeling good. It’s about the emotion rather than the action. Or to use a quote from Abraham Hicks;

But when you realize that your vibration plays a far greater role in the outcomes that your are producing than does your action, and you begin to put more emphasis on your vibration, thoughts, and your emotions, you will discover a powerful leverage of your time and energy that will profoundly affect your outcomes. In short, you will achieve far greater results with much less time and effort.

So if this is true, then I’ll need to create a state of feeling good on a consistent basis.

That’s easier said than done. So how do you get into this state of feeling good on a consistent basis?

The first step is recognizing that there is ‘craving’ for feeling good. The second step is to analyse if the craving you feel is going to serve you on a short and long term at the same time. For instance you may feel a craving for sugar or alcohol and you know once you take some you will get instant satisfaction. That’s short term. But how will sugar and alcohol affect you on the long term?

Our body is our temple through which we evolve as human beings. It’s unique and we’re only being given ONE in this life span. How do you treat your temple?

So let’s assume that music and sports are healthy cravings and alcohol, nicotine and sugar are unhealthy cravings.

In order to stop unhealthy cravings we think we need to be more disciplined. So many of say: during the week no sweets and alcohol so I can let go of my cravings during the weekend. Or, I only smoke two cigarettes a day so I don’t really harm my body.

My point here is that the craving and the addiction is practically the same if not exactly the same whether you smoke a package or two cigarettes a day. In order to get away with your feeling of guilt you will always find some excuse to keep on devastating your body.

Somebody told me that they only drink two glasses of wine a day. There is a lot of evidence that red wine is good for you, because of its antioxidants and resveratrol found in the skin of red grapes. We also know that alcohol is not meant for the human body and does a lot of harm to the spirit and body. (Who says that Jesus was perfect?)

But when I asked; ‘how about not drinking alcohol for six weeks and see how you feel?’ things started to look more complicated.

Common reactions to these kind of questions are: I don’t have the will power, that is too difficult, I don’t have the discipline, life’s too short, I like it too much and the doctor says it’s ‘healthy’ and so on.

In other words we have more excuses to NOT do something then to do something even when we know better.

We think we need discipline in order to overcome our cravings.

However if you know something serves your higher purpose and long term happiness and constant satisfaction then postponing your short term cravings can automatically turn into joy. Short term cravings and temptations are in fact compensations of obstacles in our mind.

 In other words identify where your obstacles in your mind are. What bothers you the most? What do you get upset about, etc? Focus on what you want and NOT on what you do not want.

Listen to the birds as if they were music, listen to the silence as music. If you walk to the store or clean you house, see it as exercise, if you drink a cup of tea in the morning remember that good feeling thought in the evening when you want to have alcohol. Think about the laughter or interesting conversation you had in the morning during breakfast or coffee break. If you are craving for sugar, then know it is a ‘party place’ for cancer cells.

Play with you mind. Why you are craving for something? Sex is a natural healthy instinct and highly recommended, but if it becomes compulsory it may turn into an addiction same as any other addiction.

I can highly recommend sports, but some are life threating and cause physical injuries. Sport is often seen as a healthy and competitive. But there is in fact only one competition and that’s between you and you. If you see sport as play then you might be better off.

Here are some simple and practical tips for short and long term happiness.

• Being grateful for all the things in your life. Both ‘good and bad’.
• Does your short term satisfaction give you long term satisfaction?
• Identify which long term issues are important for your? Think of Joy, health, abundance, freedom, growth, just to name a few.
• Identify your life purpose. Why are YOU here? What can you do for life instead of asking what life can do for you?
• Play like a child.
• Clean your personal environment. Your closet, desk, car and select who you want to be with. Look for like-minded people.
• Make sure you get a good night sleep.
• Avoid stress. Relax.
• Do what you like to do.
• Get lots of healthy sunshine.
• Plan you future and live in the present moment.
• Learn to eat healthy
• Do moderate exercise and stretch.
• Be honest to others and yourself.
• Be kind.
• Help others and ask nothing in return.
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Be assertive.
• Pay close attention to your thoughts.
• And last but not least create good habits, because they are as difficult to break as bad habits.

Pieter-Jan Diepenbrock

The Sugar Shift Coach