Temptation

Temptations come in various forms. Food. Beverages. Pills. Risk. The part of which is constant is that our nature as human beings may overwrite our logic and will-power. It is common for people to fall into a trance in which one is unaware of one’s actions, only to realize it afterward. Such may be the case with food. Say that a chocolate bar lay on the counter. You eat it. Afterward, as you wake up from the trance, that’s when you understand that it is nothing but momentary gratification, and yet you ate it. Human nature is a scary thing. To feel that one is not in control.

Willpower will need to be steadfast, but it is easier said than done, for willpower is a finite resource. I believe that “promises” are the very pillar on which willpower rest. If I promise myself that I will not fall for a certain temptation, but do fail in the end, then it can easily spiral out of control. If you are used to promise yourself things that oftentimes you fail, then that means habituation to failure, that is to say, one is risking to fall into a vortex of failure that ultimately leads to one becoming a creature of immediate gratification. In other words: “I will do whatever I feel like will make me the happiest in the immediate future”.

Be careful of what promises you make. Do not let yourself be accustomed to failure, but instead set up realistic promises that you may hold. Willpower will lead to confidence which will lead to happiness in the long term. Real happiness, not immediate gratification, for that I deem naught but temporary. A temporary increase in happiness, but not a long-lasting increase, not a happier life.

Temp – tation Temp – orary