Willpower: DON'T EAT THAT COOKIE!

Hello and welcome my FAMILY, FRIENDS and other good people...

WHY COUSIN PILI HAS NO WILLPOWER AND WHY YOU DON'T EITHER.

First my disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. ALL SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION THAT I AM USING COMES FROM the American Psychological Association's article on Willpower. Click HERE for the article. I will be using it as a reference for the next few blogs.

I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

Did you nod? Great! Read on.

Did you know that will power can actually be drained. Seriously. It's been studied. For example: A scientist puts a plate of fresh baked cookies in front of you (whoever you are) and I (Cousin Pili). He says, "Don't eat the cookies." The scientist leaves. YOU EAT A COOKIE! Damn YOU for eating that cookie! I wanted a cookie but I used my WILLPOWER not to eat one.

The scientist comes back in. I point at you and tell the scientist that YOU ate a cookie. The scientist just smiles and removes the cookies. He comes back with two jump ropes and asks us to jump to a thousand. We both gawk at him but get to it.

Did you know that according to the latest studies on WILLPOWER that YOU, the bad cookie eater, would last longer than me. The act of USING MY WILLPOWER to NOT EAT THE COOKIES drained my willingness to push further.

WILLPOWER is a limited resource. SO DON'T FLIPPING TEST ME!

I am so joking. Kind of.

Did you also know that WILLPOWER can be drained by emotionally stressful situations? It's been tested! Say we're watching an emotional movie and I tell you to suppress all feelings while I get to cry my eyes out and enjoy the film naturally. After the film, we're both given those jump ropes again. This time I would last longer.

WILLPOWER CAN BE DRAINED.

So... lets apply what we have learnt to life's little situations. Lets play THE WILLPOWER GAME.

First a broad stroke: Your girlfriend wants you to do something. You don't want to do it. She argues with you. You feel a little bad but still won't do it. A day passes. You are taking out the trash. Your girlfriend walks out with the bathroom trash and berates you for always forgetting to take out ALL the trash. You apologize. She asks you again to do the something you don't want to do. You say no. She continues to berate you for you forgetfulness. Later that night you are both watching an action flick. She talks throughout the entire movie, picking it apart. She expects you to agree with her and laughs at you when you don't. So you stifle your excitement for the movie and you listen to her banter away. She actually has the nerve to point out after the movie that you seemed angry. Later, you are about to sleep when you find her on the bed looking excitedly at websites about the thing you expressly told her you did not want to do.

But she is so excited. You really don't want to do it but maybe if you do this for her she'll stop making fun of your movies and stop berating you for forgetting things. You felt kind of bad for saying no in the first place... So what do you do?

You say yes.

You just lost the game of WILLPOWER. Some people are very good at this game. Watch out for those people. They are everywhere... hey... YOU might even be draining the one you love right now. The girlfriend I just described seems like a bitch but what if she was someone you truly loved and wanted to please. What would you do?

Here's another one: You are on a diet. You have been exercising regularly and eating well for weeks now. You haven't slipped up at all. UNTIL... You have an amazing day with your family at the beach. You barbecue with your cousins and only eat the chicken and vegetables. You have a long swim in the ocean and enjoy your day. Your family decides to come over to the house for more fun and food. There is fried rice and pizza. YOU KNOW you shouldn't be eating any of that and YOU DON'T. You have a great meal planned for yourself and you have the WILLPOWER to stick with it.

But you're not gonna stick around to watch everyone eat. Screw that. You always have to watch that skinny bitch (you mean that in the best way) of a cousin eat whatever she wants. And what about cousin so and so... he always says that he's going to eat better but he never does. You are so much better than him. YOU HAVE WILLPOWER!!!

Or do you? You just LOST the WILLPOWER GAME. You had the willpower to keep to your diet but not to hang with the rest of your family. Willpower depleted. Again.

Last one for tonight: Your (fill in the blank) is a NEGATIVE PERSON. But you love them. This person is wonderful and has been there for you through everything. But their VOCAL NEGATIVITY blackens everything and brings you down. But you LOVE THEM. They complain about the closest people in their life. They complain about YOU. They complain about the way things are done and not done. But you love them. THEY COMPLAIN AND COMPLAIN AND COMPLAIN.

You smile. You try to commiserate. And finally you leave. You have lost the WILLPOWER game. Or have you won? You lost the patience to put up with the complaints and negativity of a person you loved. SOMETIMES THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN TAKE.

There is a point where you break and you can never go back.

Cousin Pili

PS... This Nathaniel will be a lot happier on her next blog about WILLPOWER and her Cousin Kaeo. Cousin Kaeo always makes me a HappyNathaniel.

Cousin Kaeo at WARRIOR DASH!