Don't Fence Me In

CONTROL YOUR IMPULSES - Thought of the Day

In today's economy I'm finding myself cutting back on going out to dinner or to movies on the weekend. I'm avoiding shopping malls more than ever before. For the first time in years I'm cutting coupons out of the Sunday paper and watching my gas tank carefully. As I look in my closet and drawers I see them full of clothes that really don't need to be replaced and remind myself to be satisfied with what I've got. I want to control my spending like never before.

Another type of economy has been going through my mind. The economy of controlling my impulses. When we are mad at somebody the first thing we want to do is tell them off. When we are sad or blue, we think we will feel better if we can just unload our troubles on a friend or loved one, thinking that we will then feel better. If we are curious about something, we might quickly pick up the phone and find out the latest news from the most convenient source. When we do these actions we do not consider the immediate consequences. There could be hurt feeling that cannot be taken back. We might share our sadness then and there that we might regret later. The curiosity might kill the cat or at least turn into gossip that can spread like feathers.

Where am I going with this? The best friend we have when it comes to our impulses is TIME. If you want to dive in and do something impulsively, just step back a minute. It's like having a second piece of divine chocolate cake. You know you want it. You've got to have it. But if you just wait 5 minutes, that first piece settles in and you are satisfied. When you are angry, count to 10, or 20, or 100. Give it a day, or write how you feel on paper before you speak to who you are angry with. Most times you can let it go. When you are sad, I have found that time is my best friend; that an hours nap, a prayer and a pepsi solves my problem. When that dark cloud passes and my mind is clear, I realize that I am glad that I haven't shared those feeling with anyone. They are mine alone. When you are curious, it us surprising how, if you wait, it will come to you. If it doesn't, you really didn't need to know.

There are lots of impulses in our daily lives that I haven't mentioned. These are just the ones that have come to mind. Time can be our friend or our enemy, but in the area of impulse it is the best friend we have 90% of the time. So now I'm going to hit the publish post button and get this subject off my chest. Bye!