Monday, January 12, 2015

Sometimes It's Like NOT Scratching an Itch....

I have decided that resisting cravings are somewhat like NOT scratching an itch.  I conducted an experiment last night on our car trip back from Los Angeles to Phoenix, it was somewhat unintended but gave me some great insights!

I was in the back seat of our car with our awesome 10-year old son, and I had closed my eyes to rest a bit.  He noticed my eyes were closed, and said "Hey Daddy!  Mama is asleep!"  My husband said "well, don't wake her up, let her rest."

Not wanting to disappoint my son and make him think he had woken me up (he hadn't, I wasn't asleep in the first place) I wanted to keep my eyes closed for a bit and remain still.

But there was a problem.  I immediately developed an itch on my nose.

What could I do?  I couldn't scratch it, or he would see me moving/stirring/awake and be devastated that he had woken me up!  So, I sat there, eyes closed, nose itching, and DIDN'T scratch it.

It persisted.  In fact, it got stronger.  It became almost unbearable because I was doing everything I could to NOT scratch it.  I thought I was going to succumb to it, to respond to the itch, and everything in me WANTED to do that and was TELLING me to just scratch it already.

But I didn't.

Herculean self control and torture, LOL.  

Then guess what happened?  After about a minute of itching, the itch subsided on its own!  The urge to scratch it went COMPLETELY away!

Wanting to see if this was a fluke experience, I tried to repeat the phenomenon as I lay in bed last night.  My nose had begun to itch, and instead of immediately scratching it I just experienced the itch for 20-30 seconds.  It went away!  I found that if I didn't scratch it, the itch would subside over time!

I drew a parallel to my cravings for off-plan items.  At the time of the craving, it seems that the reflexive desire to answer the craving immediately is all I can think about.  But then I notice that if I DON'T respond to to craving, in about 5 minutes the desire for the item I am craving GOES AWAY!


So here is the lesson in that, BUY YOURSELF TIME away from acting on the temptation to sabotage yourself.  Dr. A calls this the "Stop.  Challenge.  Choose." method, where you literally STOP what you are doing, take 8 deep breaths or drink a glass of water, CHALLENGE whether or not what you are about to do works TOWARDS your health goals or counteracts them, then CHOOSE what is ultimately most important to you.

In the car with my son it was MOST important for me to give the appearance to my son that I was, in fact, asleep.  So I didn't respond to the craving to scratch my nose.  

What is important to you in your health journey?  What actions will you take to realize your most important goals/dreams/desires?  Sometimes it's as easy (hard) as simply NOT scratching that itch.

Rinse and Repeat!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This is beautiful and inspiring. You are helping to empower people by teaching them that with every conscious decision they are able to change their lives for the better. Brava!!!
Dana Z. :-D

Sarah Halstead said...

This is so great. Thanks so much for sharing. I succumbed to a temptation today... Hoping for a better day tomorrow. You can read my journey here. http://www.sarahhalstead.com/