Instant Gratification

Instant gratification may be the biggest hurdle to us achieving our goals and dreams. They can come in a variety of forms and what they do is reward you but also delay, stall or even completely halt your motivation to truly be what you want to be or do what you want to do. Think of that first paycheck from a job that, maybe at the time you were happy to have, but now not so much. You chose the secure and safe option that gives you repeated instant gratification on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule to avoid the hard and unknown road of following your dreams. I say unknown and hard because truly everybody’s journey in life is different. Some may be able to follow a preset path that others have paved before, but some may have completely uncharted waters to navigate and avoid sinking in the storms.

These days with the rise of social media and visual content, generated at an unimaginable rate, our brain is ill equipped to say “no” to the constant barrage of external stimulus. Sugar, salt and fat in various forms and combinations are marketed to us constantly through these media outlets and are ever present in the stores where we shop and buy our real food. Whether it is your favorite salty snack, ice cream, candy, sports drink, and whatever battered, deep fried thing, it is all designed to play on the taste buds to make us indulge in calories that are not fit to be considered food. These things are highly addictive for a reason. Your body cannot tell when real nutritive value is coming so it sends the signal to the brain to consume more and more since it is desperately starving for nutrition. And we give these things to our kids as snacks and treats! Don’t think for even a second that the corporate giants of the world don’t know this and exploit it to their benefit. Added to the mix are substances that are genuinely toxic to the body like alcohol and tobacco, other forms of instant gratification or escape.

In my own life, I have at some point in the past, indulged regularly in all of the above and occasionally still do to this day. Although I am more aware today and through this awareness have developed a stronger mind, these things are still all around me and continue to tempt me on a daily basis. But I have also indulged regularly in two other forms of instant gratification or escape, the use of cannabis and fantasy daydreaming. I do not know if the two are related, but they do offer relief from my daily life. I have found this too removes motivation and focus. I have to constantly remind myself not to daydream. I also believe that while daydreaming has some benefits related to our goal setting circuits, excessive daydreaming may also keep the door open to negative thinking about the future, since your mind is already entertaining possibilities. The brain being the biggest consumer of calories in the body and our body being a marvelous survival machine, why would it be willing to burn calories venturing into the unknown? If you have strayed from the present to daydream about a positive future for too long, why would you be able to return to the present with motivation when the brain or mind may believe that these things are already accomplished, even if only in your head and burned valuable calories in fantasy land.

Any time you have a task in front of you, it is imperative that you stay present and build the ability to stay focused, either until the task is complete or designated time for the task has transpired. The only way to do your best work is to stay in the present. As is said in the Bhagavad Gita, “You have a right to the work but none to the reward”. The reward is the work and the work comes from God and must be returned to Him without hope or ego. Here too, I have indulged many times in effort, only waiting for the reward and then losing motivation when no reward came.

Should rewards come from your work, take some time, not just to enjoy them, but to share experiences with those closest to you. This will build memories, that when you in the future, do leave your present, you can actually enjoy the past!