We Can Change Self-Destructive Behavior

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
– Samuel Beckett

 

With soaring health costs,  obesity levels increasing, more unhappiness during aging and greater monetary expenditures on alcohol, prescription and nonprescription drugs, it is clear that irrational and self- destructive forces play a major part in man’s search for happiness and contentment. If man was a totally rational human-being, he would not continue to make  self destructive choices over and over ? Man continues to make self-defeating decisions that are clearly not in his self-interest repeatedly. Perhaps, in part, because man is irrational, he continues to chase illusion’s and/or deny the many subjective realities of his existence.

It seems important, to recognize, that we   become the choices that we have made during our lifetime.  It may  not be enough to simply acknowledge our choices. We all realize and acknowledge that changing behavior is  extremely  difficult to do consistently. The task at hand is to make significantly more positive life decisions than negative ones. Our batting average needs to be much higher than 500 to reach the golden years  Simply. satisfying one’s physiological needs and hoarding more and more things does not seem to be the answer either. Do not lose sight that less can be better than more.

What seems to assist  or work for many individuals is finding an activity that provides meaning within their existence. With having meaning, often comes resilience, passion and major life  changes. Sometimes it takes a personal crisis  to occur before any positive or significant  change can be made. In my  book, It Has Nothing To Do With  Age, there are many examples of  men and women experiencing personal hardship before they were able to obtain and then reach new positive and healthy heights. Discovering or finding a new experience -an activity that resulted in personal  meaning was the impetus. More often than not, athletics or sport provided the spark so to speak and gave special meaning  to the individual. When that happened, life seemed to change for the better as new heights were attained.

 So do not discount the power of sports. With athletics comes discipline, resilience, passion, goal seeking ,self worth ,mastery and belongingness. Discipline helps to provide structure and ability to practice.  And, according to Arnold Palmer. “More I practice, the luckier I become.” With goal seeking, thinking about the future is paramount. Having a future, looking forward to the future results in a more contented  individual. Without a future, comes despair, doom ,gloom and dread. Picking self up after a disappointment or failure results in self respect along with increased self esteem .Being part of a team provides support and reduces  a sense of isolation and loneliness.

I am pleased to announce that Dan Barger is tomorrow’s TV Guest. Dan has mastered many sports and has assisted employees to  come together  to function as a team. I’m sure that you’ll find Dan interesting and will learn about his passions. Incidentally, he ran in this years    Western States 100 endurance run.

When you keep moving, laughing, smiling and deep breathing life is more better.