11/28/06 Your Account is Overdrawn

Yesterday while leaving work, I had a plan. I was going to go to the gym, then have a light dinner and work on my accounting homework. All things that needed to be done, and I was going to do them. I was determined. I was focused. So determined and focused that I came home, ate tortilla chips for dinner, washed it down with a handful of chocolate chips, and read Nora Roberts in the bathtub until bed.

What happened? I bounced a check at the Bank of Self-discipline.

I have a theory about self-discipline. My theory is that you only have x amount of it, and it's never enough to cover everything. Like money, you have to spend it on certain things that are important, and let the other stuff slide. And good intentions are like credit card offers...nice to have, but in reality, they have nothing to do with what your bank balance looks like. Like, before I started school, I went to the gym three days a week, without fail. Sure, it took discipline, but my butt looked pretty darn good, so it was worth it. Then I started school, and it took discipline to go to class and do the homework, and I had to steal that from the going to the gym fund, which slacked off considerably. The getting up and going to work in the morning fund is also a big chunk of my discipline budget. (This mostly takes the form of the housecleaning discipline drying up). Suddenly it's all you can do to keep yourself groomed and getting regular haircuts. Now I'm up to my ears in good intentions, and don't have anything to back them up with.