What if there was an "upward spiral"?
I'm beginning to think that making a happier life consists of someone solving a "monkey trap". Monkey traps are simple; a coconut or gourd is hollowed out, and a treat that the monkey likes is placed inside. The monkey, smelling and eventually seeing the treat, attempts to place their hand in the gourd to retrieve it, only to find that their hand can't come out because the fist won't fit through the hole. The coconut/gourd is also tied to a stout object, like a tree - which means, they're effectively trapped. The indigenous population uses this trick so that they can just walk up to the monkey and capture it.
If only the monkey would let go. Instead, being greedy, it's trapped in its own vicious cycle, and simply howls with fear as it can't overcome the urge to just let it go and escape.
It seems to me that bad habits are really just self-reinforcing behaviors that we don't want to give up. And if we do give them up, we suddenly find ourselves free, and that the effort required was nowhere near what we thought it was.
So I'm going to try something different. I'm dieting right now for a variety of reasons, although I'm trying this as a holistic approach to my health - eating foods not just to maintain a better body weight, but to also get proper nutrition in the right amounts. For the last few months, I've tried to swear off of soda, with limited success, although I usually have gone without for long periods of time. The secret to the success of this method is to understand the Monkey Trap, and realize that every time I think I need a soda, it's just another Monkey Trap waiting for me. I now drink coffee (yes, I know all about the "evils" of coffee, but we'll cover that later) and it has been a good substitute in moderation. Since then, I've actually decreased the amount of coffee I drink and now only have it when I think I really need a caffeine boost.
So understanding the Monkey Trap has helped me along with soda, and I think it's now time to take it up a notch. Now it's time to give up "eating out" for lunch, which usually consists of the cheapest, nastiest food (it's cheap because it is nasty) and rather than spend a few bucks each day on that, I'm packing leftovers. This will have several benefits, the least of which is to increase the nutritional quality of what I'm eating while simultaneously.
Will I escape the Monkey Trap? I think we'll find out in a few weeks. Stay tuned.
