Conscious thinking.

I’ve come to a really strong conclusion recently.

Conscious thinking results in consequential action, which almost always yields positive results.

Seriously. I know it’s not some kind of stroke of genius, but c’mon… how many times have we found ourselves in a situation where we hated the end result, and only after the fact thought about a better way to have handled things?

• You’re dieting. You find yourself at a barbecue with friends. There’s tons of beer, wine, and cocktails. There’s even more tons of food and desserts. An hour into the event, you find yourself gorging on two cheeseburgers, a baked potato with tons of butter and sour cream, a couple ears of corn (again with tons of butter), and later on a double helping of strawberry shortcake. All while washing it down with non-light beer or wine. Later on that evening, you feel like a bloated greaseball and end up saying, “WHY DID I DO THAT!?”
• You’re saving money. You find yourself at the mall with your best friend, a noted shopaholic. There’s a big “sale” going on at your favorite store, and you decide that “looking” wouldn’t hurt. Next thing you know, you’re at the checkout handing the clerk your store credit card (which features a stupendous 18.5% interest rate) and signing a bill for $300. You get home and start unpacking the bags and you remember that the car payment’s due. You stare in some kind of stupified amazement at your loot and say, “WHY DID I DO THAT?!”
• You’re working on eliminating stress. You work a really long day and your boss was breathing down your neck for the last 4 hours of it. On the way home, you get caught up behind a tractor trailer accident for an hour. You’re starving. Your significant other calls and wants to know where you are, why you’re late, when you’ll be home, and what you’re bringing for dinner. You lash out at him/her and get so flipping mad that you forget to pay attention to the light, get in a fender bender, and now, even more stressed out, find yourself thinking, “WHY DID I DO THAT?!”

Conscious thinking. Take stock of your emotions in any given situation, and before acting on anything, refocus your thought process. Take everything into consideration and weigh the results of your actions before acting. Here’s how the above situations COULD have gone:

• You’re dieting. You find yourself going to a barbecue with friends. About an hour before you left, you made yourself a quick salad with some grilled chicken on top and gobbled it up while preparing some cut up fruit and another plate of veggies to bring to the barbecue. You stop at the store on the way and grab some flavored sparkling water (zero calorie, of course). You get there and realize that one of your friends whom you haven’t seen in ages is there, so you two start chatting and after a few hours, you grab a plate of the fruit and veggies you brought because you realize that you were talking so much you forgot to eat. You get home and say to yourself, “I’M SO GLAD I DID THAT!”
• You’re saving money. Your shopaholic friend calls and wants you two to spend the day at the mall. You know that your favorite store is having a sale, and that if you go, you’ll wind up blowing a chunk of change there, so instead you suggest that the two of you hit up the local hot air balloon festival. They’ve got a flea market there going on and you’ve been dying to try using your old 35mm camera again, so you both win. On the way home you drop your film off at the one-hour photo and grab some groceries. You get home to check out your amazing photography skills, and you say, “I’M SO GLAD I DID THAT!”
• You’re working on eliminating stress. You’ve had a long day at work and your boss was breathing down your neck for the last 4 hours (sorry, we can’t change that part of the scenario). On the way home, you find yourself trapped behind a tractor trailer accident for an hour. You use that time to crank up your favorite CD and belt out the music. You remember that your significant other is home, and you turn down the tunes to call and let them know why you’re late, and explain that you’re very tired and would like to get some food delivered home. You ask that they pick whatever they and the kids want, and order it. You hang up the phone, go back to your rockin’ CD, and when traffic lightens up, you make it home with yourself and your car unscathed, just in time to sit down and enjoy some dinner, take a bath, and relax with the family for the rest of the night. In a moment of peace, you find yourself thinking, “I’M SO GLAD I DID THAT!”

See the differences? Conscious thinking results in consequential action, which almost always yields positive results.

I’m making a concerted effort in my life to now take into account every possible result and to try to choose the best way to handle things in order to garner the most positive result in the end. For me this means things like bringing my coffee with me in the morning (even though it takes me more time before heading out the door) and driving past the fast food joints knowing I have good food at home. Things like asking a client if I can call them back when they’re on the phone screaming at me, or waiting to respond to a nasty email from someone who just really “doesn’t get it” and has decided to take their bad day out on me. I want to lose weight, save money, and have more peace in my life too, so I need to be sure to react in ways that make those things happen for me, rather than making the bad things happen “to” me.

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