When you don’t eat for a while (I’m talking at least 8 hours, or longer) and then you finally do get a bite of something, whether it’s a nasty, greasy burger, a piece of bread with butter with it, or even a 79c can of some cheapass stanky tuna, quality (nor quantity) doesn’t matter. You could close your eyes, have a bite of a main cooked by a 3 Michelin Star chef and you’d be barely be able to tell the difference.
That’s because at the heart of everything that matters, it’s not about whether something is good or bad –it’s just whether it is or it isn’t. Whether you ate something or you didn’t. Despite some people believing you deserve the best, you should aim for the best, and you should never settle, lowering your standards actually leads to satisfaction and contentment. And isn’t that the point?
Depriving yourself of things you take for granted builds character and sparks gratitude.
I want to have no standards
My wife and I have a $700 mattress and there’s days when I wake up and consider whether I slept well or poorly. I also choose to sleep outside in the backyard at least once a week, and the difference there is that when I wake up, it’s not about whether I slept good or bad. I slept. And that’s it.
I’ve also stopped labelling the weather good or bad. It’s okay to state the facts (it’s hot as shit today/it’s pissing down etc.) but the weather is an external thing that we 0 control over and shouldn’t decide what we do or how we feel.
Gratitude doesn’t mix with anything
It’s impossible to feel neglected, ignored, upset or demotivated when you feel gratitude.
Try it. Think about how grateful you are to have a stocked fridge with food to eat, to have vision, or the ability to walk. When so many don’t, but you’re fortunate enough to.
Gratitude is an all-encompassing feeling that allows for no other emotions (especially negative ones) to enter your mind.¹
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¹ I’m pretty sure I stole that from Tony Robbins². Nevertheless, it’s true and the exercise above actually works.
² Actually, yep.