Thoughts on willpower

So talking about addictions, I just finished was was left of a bag of low salt Lays chips. That's just sad that the commercials are accurate when they say you can't just eat one. It doesn't end at that, its like you have to eat the whole bag. Same goes for chocolate. You can't just eat one piece - you'll just feel like you're depriving yourself. That's why some genius marketing person came up with "singles" to reduce portions. You pay a premium to have the portions controlled for you cuz you don't have sufficient willpower to do it yourself. Or how about Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and the Zone?! All marketed because us as human fail to follow through and have trouble controlling our urges and impulses. How primitive are we?!

Basically it comes down to this - you know its bad for you, but it tastes/feels so good, so you just can't help yourself. "Its beyond my control"...taken straight from Dangerous Liaisons when the count breaks things off with the woman he loves. But is it really?!

Life just isn't fair and it isn't always easy. If people make you think that everything comes easy for them, think again. Nothing that is worth anything comes easy in life. You have to work for everything. In work, love, health, and relationships...you always need to sacrifice in order to get what you want.

Which brings me back to the topic ...are those things that you can really control? Some would argue that you can't. You can work towards increasing your odds of avoiding the worst case scenario from happening but a lot of it also has to do with having some luck in life (for people that do not believe in fate and predestination).

Certainly in our work life, there are obviously many things out of the realm of our control. We have to work with and depend on a multitude of people. There is competition, jealousy, and everyone is out for themselves. Survival of the fittest. We can't always choose who we work with but how well we work with those that surround us is a good predictor of success.

As for the topic of love, lets not even go there as this is an area to do with feelings that no one can control. You like who you like. You love who you love. It is what it is. You can't control what others feel, just as you can't control what you feel. Either you're attracted or you are not. Sad but true.