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The Innocent Distractions
Distraction and displacement seem innocent on the surface. How can we be harming ourselves by having fun, or seeking romance, or enjoying the fruits of this big, beautiful world? But lives go down the tubes one repetition at a time, one deflection at a time, one hundred and forty characters at a time.
-Steven Pressfield
While it may seem that I place self-discipline as the most important thing in life, I want to clarify that that’s not the case. We weren’t made for work alone and it’s important to celebrate what life has to offer, particularly as a reward after a job well done. However, we weren’t made for constantly entertaining ourselves and engaging in low-quality pleasures, either. These innocent distractions can make life more pleasurable, but at the same time a monster hides behind the innocence: developing an erroneous belief that there’s nothing wrong with exceptions. An exception every now and then won’t hurt you, but when you do it regularly, it isn’t an exception anymore; it’s a habit. And that’s how people continue to drink fizzy drinks, while they said a long time ago they’d stop; how people continue spending money they don’t have, even though they vowed to make smart purchases; and how people watch TV instead of learning for their next exam.“Doing it just one more time” quickly converts into another, another, and yet another exception, and soon the exception becomes the new norm. Every time you catch yourself saying that you’re going to do it for the last time, remember that (as Steven Pressfield nicely put it), lives go down the tubes one exception at a time.