One Less Poor Choice is Cause for Celebration

It’s okay to be in a headspace of craving or longing or aversion or frustration. It’s also important to recognize that when in that headspace it’s best to not make any big decisions. The art of decision making is extremely individual, which makes it challenging to talk or write about. But I think there are some dynamics at play where we share common ground.

Think of what it feels like when you make a decision that you like — what to wear, what to eat, which weekend plans you say yes to and no to. What did it feel like in your mind and body when you made that decision? Now think of the decisions that you didn’t like — maybe you were frustrated or angry or fed up or vengeful so you made a certain decision to not go to the thing or you decided to in fact write that seething message to your friend.

Maybe your body had been aching or your health issues worsened and you made decisions to indulge or deprive, imbibe or isolate. Instead of spiraling, (a word we turn to these days when discussing poor habits) we can pause it after just one ping pong. Instead of a spiral where one poor choice leads to another poor choice to another, we can celebrate our progress when we notice we land instead in the ping pong back and forth, oscillating between balanced choices and poor ones and back to balanced. When we recognize the pattern and unhook ourselves (thanks Tara), we may still make the less than desirable choices for ourselves but they’ll be dispersed among the supportive choices and that’s enough. It’s enough to make one less poor choice than before.

One bad meal doesn’t lead to a weeklong binge. One skipped workout doesn’t have to be a weeklong numbing journey. One thought of poor self worth doesn’t have to lead to more thoughts of self deprecation. Allow them to be here. And celebrate when they aren’t contagious.

This is where moderation comes from, where balance comes from, where sustainability comes from and that’s how change happens within our reigns. This is how we steer the boat of change. Rather than expecting self-supportive choices 100% of the time, we can learn how to bounce back to ourselves when we inevitably steer elsewhere. And from that practice of returning to balance comes the capacity for endurance, resilience, thrill, joy, love, light and so much more.