Moment of weakness, act of strength

I’m in what is probably the most stressful period of my life right now, studying for my Canadian board exams. This means that I’m letting my “diet” slip to cope. The other day, while I feeling sorry for myself, I bought a bulk bag of chocolate mini-eggs. We’re not talking the package that you can hold in one hand; we’re talking the package that basically has a handle.

I’m not so far over the edge that I would eat a whole sack of chocolate eggs in one sitting yet. Give me a few weeks. But after a few handfuls, I realized that I had succumbed to a moment of weakness and that eating (eventually) this bag of delicious chocolate eggs really wasn’t in my best interest. There’s coping (a small package of chocolate eggs), and then there’s overcompensation.

We all have moments of weakness. It only takes a split second to pick up a 5-pound sack of chocolate. However, every moment of weakness is an opportunity to perform an act of strength. It only takes a split second to throw the bag away. A split second of weakness, a split second of strength. If you’re the kind of person who isn’t beneath fishing in the garbage for the bag (and God knows I thought about it), empty the bag into the garbage. And if you’re not above picking every little morsel out of the garbage, make sure there’s something in there that you would just never go after.

It’s alright to have moments of weakness. We’re all human. But it’s about coming up with ways to burn the boats afterwards that matter. Make your retreat impossible. If going backwards becomes difficult or impossible, you stop worrying about it. Meet your moments of weakness with acts of strength. Burn the boats.