I recall reading Brian Tracy's book "NO Excuses" and how Chapter One discussed self-denial or self-discipline.
I could vividly remember that in high school, one of the first things we were taught in economics class was that "human wants are insatiable." While every human shares the same basic needs, our wants are quite different from one person to another. Sometimes we want something, but the things we want or the actions we want to take might affect or hinder our basic needs. And since our needs are more important than our wants, it is necessary to deny ourselves of that want, and that is what self-denial is all about to me.
Many times in my young life, I have found myself denying myself my wants, not because I don't like them or they aren't good for me, but because they didn't meet my long-term goal or weren't necessary for my survival. Even though I must confess that Self-denial or self-discipline isn't my forte, I tried to do so, especially when necessary and to my ability. I had to do a lot of introspection to come up with what to write on this prompt, and thank goodness I could remember a scenario where I had to go through self-denial.
One of the iconic periods of self-denial I went through was when I wanted to buy my first smartphone. I started using my first smartphone in the year 2019. I know it was quite late, but I could have gotten a smartphone before 2019, but since I planned on going to University; I had to save up for my tuition fee. I wanted a smartphone so badly, but then I realized that my education was more important at that moment than the smartphone was.
Some months after my admission into University, I bought the phone, but it wasn't simple, as I had to go through another self-denial process by eating only once daily to save up to get a phone. I had to do these because I had used all the money I had saved up earlier to pay for my tuition fee. It was really difficult denying myself proper meals, but in the end, it was worth it. I wouldn't have functioned properly at school without it. In fact, getting the phone made my schooling much easier and saved me a lot of money. For example, instead of buying physical textbooks, I used softcopies, which were free.
There might have been other cases of self-denial in the past that I can't remember now while writing this. But one thing I have come to realize in life is that you can't have everything at the same time, and you have to deny yourself certain things to get the things you truly want or need. Everything in life is based on evaluation and priority. Always remember the proverb that goes like this: "Don't put the cart before the horse."
15/07/23
