Don't Be Your Own Worst Enemy

You ever thought to yourself that maybe we could be our own worst enemy? Shoot, I have a lot! I remember beating my head against the wall trying to get in better shape for racing knowing it would take a ton of dedication and commitment only to find myself eating poorly and skipping a workout because it was easier not too. It’s like I wanted to win a Super Bowl but didn’t want to go to practice. The not winning made me sad and I became frustrated with myself to the point of unhappiness. Maybe you haven’t admitted it about yourself, but you’ve thought it about someone else. She’ll never get out of debt if she keeps spending like that. She is her own worst enemy! You get what I mean...We all have the capacity to be our own worst enemy—to undermine what we ultimately want because of what we immediately want. And a big part of the reason is our confusion around two words: “pleasure” and “happiness.” Pleasure makes us feel good in the short term. Happiness takes longer. According to Jesus, it has to be sown and grown. But because most of us are impatient (especially when we’re unhappy), we often opt for the quick fix of pleasure. We binge, shop, scroll, go out, or stay in—whatever will make us feel better as soon as possible. I’m terrible about this but, over time, even a pleasure that starts as an innocent pastime can become a prison. We scroll social media because it’s been a bad day and we want to zone out. But eventually, we’re ignoring our loved ones in favor of a quick fix from our phones. Am I right?Opting for pleasure will undercut our chances of being happy. And we may not notice what we’ve done until it’s too late—until we’ve wrecked our careers or ruined a relationship or permanently affected our health.What are you doing (or not doing) today that may be undermining your chances to be happy in the future? You can avoid being your own worst enemy if you take action now.Be Nice, Grace wins