Another way of phrasing this wrong belief is to think that you can do things without incurring consequences.
Actions have consequences. So, obviously, four glasses of liquor every night is going to cost your body. Your body can’t keep up with detoxifying that much liquor and doing everything else it has to do. Eventually, you will become sick. Something’s gotta give. I don’t mean to be completely negative, but I do want to thoroughly examine this wrong belief so that we can avoid being surprised by unwanted consequences.
Here are some other ways this wrong belief may appear in our lives:
- I can go to bed at 3 a.m. and get up at 5 a.m. and still function.
- I can take recreational drugs and not compromise my health.
- I can drink sodas and energy drinks every day and not compromise my health.
- I can scream and yell at my spouse in front of my children without it affecting them.
- I can go shopping when I feel bad and spend money I don’t really have, and not incur financial consequences.
- I can eat fast food 3 times a week and not compromise my health.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.
The other part of this wrong belief is not really understanding how to change your actions to get a different consequence. This may take some investigation on your part.
Perhaps you grew up in a family that survived on fast food, and you have never seen anyone cook vegetables. You may have to train yourself to do things you did not learn when you were growing up. Perhaps your parents yelled at each other every day. It may be how they communicated. If everyone you know lives a stressful life, stress may seem “normal” to you. You may have to learn how to do something that you have never seen anyone else in your life do! You can do it!
You can educate yourself to do things differently.
Try not to become overwhelmed by all the changes you may need to make. One good thing generally leads to another. Start with one area of your life and deliberately try to learn a better way of handling that part of your life. The other parts of your life will follow. You may start with your finances. In order to save money, you may decide to eat out less. That is probably going to affect your health positively way as well. Perhaps you learn how to keep up with your housekeeping. Having a bedroom that is calm and relaxing will probably encourage you to go to bed at a decent hour.
Just start somewhere and be patient with yourself while you try something different. Small changes can have big consequences!