FOOD FOR THOUGHT: I don’t know about you, but one thing I struggle with is knowing the difference between having a good, upstanding reason for doing something and when I am “justifying and rationalizing.” Although this plays out in many types of situations, to illustrate, I’ll use a food situation. In my first year I stalled a lot. BADLY. The main culprit was under-eating. Even when I could eat a little bit more (and by a little bit more I mean I graduated from a few tablespoons at a time to just over ¼ cup) I didn’t want to eat more. I was afraid. I didn’t trust myself to not just be eating out habit or addiction. And further down the line that continued. I’d get myself comfortable with a certain amount of food and when my body changed, I resisted. And at the root of that behavior was this problem: I was never sure I had a legitimate reason to eat more (even at the advice of my medical team) or if I was making up excuses to be able to eat more. I see some of you seem to struggle with that same dilemma. Not just with food. There is one Foodie (who upon reading it will know who they are) who got injured and had to pull back from physical activity. That person spent a good portion of time feeling like a slacker because they weren’t being as active as they once were. At the heart of that: I believe they weren’t sure if they really needed to take it easy or if they were justifying and rationalizing taking a break. The same rings VERY true for putting your needs first. It’s important. You can’t be of good use to anybody else if you aren’t functional first. But many times we wonder: are we really exhibiting self-care or are we just being self-ISH? We aren’t sure if we have a legitimate reason or if we are justifying and rationalizing. To this dilemma, I have this humble advice. For ME (Nik) the main differentiator between having a good reason for anything and “justifying/rationalizing” is this. When I go into a plan after having thought it out, with a course of action based on good knowledge (doctor advice, deep contemplation, speaking with trusted mentors/advisors), I am pretty sure I have a good reason for doing things. Conversely, when I go into an action FIRST, without thinking about it, and find myself with the need to explain myself and/or give myself permission to do things? That for ME tends to be justifying/rationalizing. Because in the end you don’t have to explain a good, well-thought-out decision to anyone. You know it’s a good decision. You’ve considered all sides and you actively made the decision. It’s when you go into a decision ill-informed or under potentially faulty assumptions that you tend to want to rationalize it and when that happens – if you recognize it – you need to stop and think about it. It’s truly never too late to make a different decision. So that’s my humble advice for today. It can be hard to trust the decisions you make when in the past your decision making has been bad or faulty. But in learning this new life we are learning we have to learn to seek counsel when needed, know our standards and make healthy decisions based on what we know about ourselves, our circumstances and our capabilities. It’s not easy, but that’s the only way to get to where you want to be! #FOODFORTHOUGHT
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 16:00:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015