Pleasure can become punishment, such absolutes from the daily stoic today!

Some days I’m completely on page with what the daily stoic meditations has to say and then other days I’m realising how much the world has evolved with it’s always on devices, high definition streams and real time updates. It’s near on impossible not to gorge on some level of pleasure, in fact, we can be easily swayed into pleasure from multiple marketing angles everywhere we go.

I’m not against the notion that self-control can be difficult, of course it is, there are just too many incredible things in the world to take part, consume and achieve & learn. It’s easy to let go and say ‘fuck it’ when the world around you seems to be doing the same — it takes a certain kind of mantra, certain real world things to pull that control together to stop you falling into the spartan abyss of pleasure seeking, whatever forms it takes!

I did totally agree with the ‘cheat day’ text below the main part however, the fact that we build up to that cheat day and eat what we want and then feel sick because the rest of the week we have been “good” — i think it’s a critical mass that we all must reach before we truly have balance. The more you enjoy the alternative, the easier it get’s, once you realise what give you more clarity you start remixing your foods to give you benefits, not take you in reverse.

Take one Youtube I’ve been watching for well over at least five years, watching his journey from camper van to camper van to getting a really good class A and then his recent health journey to losing 30lb and wow, he’s a really great example of measuring out your food, getting the right fuel in your body, burning more calories than you take in via food and working out in the process.

the problem for many is incremental change is not enough, we’ve become used to the next day delivery, fast food services through a drive through window, the turnstile bleep of a piece of cardboard allowing us access — we are programmed for speed, we want it fast, because the world runs fast.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I’ll cave in for Italian, chinese, drive through, milkshakes, cheese boards and such like but I’ve learned that actually as i get older in life you get more of a respect for the things we have, where they come from, how they got there, how long it took to make, the craft and care in how something is built. It’s like a fine wine aging in a basement.

In this way, self-control becomes the real pleasure, and the temptation becomes the regret.

But the real skill for me is not in the self-control or having a cap on the temptation but really for me it’s in the working of the consciousness of it, being aware to the impact of the temptation and how being “awake” in one area of your life impacts another.

I’ve found you can improve not only your own mental health and well being but those of others around you when you are subtle with the ‘consciousness’ of the things you interact with in your life - be aware that everything runs at a frequency that you can be in turn with or out of sync and in the white noise the easy your engagement with the world can be.

We just have to tune in this human body radio and things because crystal clear and help you achieve clarity in your own life. Pleasure for me should always come from a place of clarity and if you are doing it right, you’ll already be working on your plan to deal with any life’s little pleasures that get thrown your way.

What I’m saying is that it’s ok to stay in bed on a Sunday, watch loads of 80’s movies, eat tacos and such like while drinking a bottle each of red wine just as long as you realise you gotta put in lots of steps and plenty of water the next day, ha! — live a little, have clarity for your temptations and you’ll be in good shape!

Let me tempt you today with a bunch of great services! :)

---

i read a page a day from this fantastic book that i'm reading everyday this year (2020) -- it's been really useful to hone my thoughts and have words to put order to the mental chaos -- i thought it would be a dip in book but it's more than that (amazon affiliate link btw) ____ humble X

---

▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS