Applying the brakes

It's probably fair to say that most of us have had trouble stopping that which should be stopped - I mean bad behaviours or habits - and we've all probably chastised ourselves for it and probably worked really hard to delude ourselves that it'll all be ok...even if we know it will not. Applying the brakes when it comes to arresting our bad habits can be difficult because those bad habits may make life easier, be enjoyable or simply so compelling that stopping them seems an impossibility.

Today I had lunch with a client who certainly isn't a picture of health; the person is quite overweight (morbidly obese) and considering he's had a heart attack in the past I'd have thought he'd not eat what he did at lunch or light up the cigarette afterwards. Yep, bad habits can be so difficult to stop.

As someone with a health condition I deny myself so many things as far as food goes and the quantities I consume are also taken into account.

Would I like to smash a pizza? Well fucken yeah I would, but I do not as it's not good for me. When I'm tired would I rather not exercise, when I feel like having some alcoholic drinks would I like more than one, would I like to get through an entire day without having to think about sugar levels, carbohydrates, insulin injections and all that fucken nutbaggery? Well yeah, but if I was to cave in my health would suffer and life is pretty precious, we only get one after all.

Watching the guy devour his lunch like fucken Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars (google it) made me wonder about just how much this person, (of under 50 years of age) thought of his own life, how badly he wanted to watch his children grow up and what sort of life he truly wanted to have; does he know when he dies the lights go out for good? Sure, life is there to be enjoyed but certain behaviours work counter-productively to life-enjoyment even though they may feel good at the time.

For me, well...knowing why I want to stop bad habits and counter-productive behaviours in respect of my life is how I manage to do it. I stand back and look at my life (a pretty fucken good one), the people around me I love and value, and even those I've lost prematurely and it all culminates in me wanting to live my best life, a balance of awesomeness and of doing the right thing so I'm able to enjoy it for a long time to come.

I wonder if you have any thoughts on this? Do you have bad habits you can't break, or some you have managed to break that have positively impacted your life? Have you had a life-threatening moment that snapped you into action to live a better life, have better habits and behaviours? Have you died because of your terrible life-choices and habits? (I'm assuming no one will say yes to this one.)

Feel free to tell me about it, how you stopped your bad habit and how that worked out well for you, or why you did not break your bad habit and what effects that had on your life; just comment generally if you'd rather, it's your choice.