Brain Dump

38 august 2021

THE COMET brain dump: Festering Intentions

By the time I reached clinical rounds, starting to see patients in the university’s teaching clinic, I was told over and again that preventive medicine has more to do with understanding human motivation than anything else. And how true it is. I mean, let’s get real, you already know what you need to do in order to be healthy. Stop shoving your face, move your body more, and put down the bottle of whiskey. Or at least before 2pm.

As humans continue to fail in their own self motivation, we see the alternative health world enter in with their litany of marketing schemes to overcome your sad state of affairs. 30 day diet plans, a 6 week program for transformation, and of course an app for every step of the way. Do you need more motivation? Hire a personal coach! Although they won’t do jumping jacks for you, they can come to your door at the butt crack of dawn and drag you out of bed in order to be a decent human being. Or maybe you need a poorly educated but highly influential health coach that can be at your beck and call in order to *feel* like you have everything you need in order to succeed.

But low and behold, we still wake up and look in the mirror at the same person we were yesterday. So what’s the deal? Do you honestly lack motivation in order to accomplish the list of things you keep saying you want? Is the entirety of our health crisis due to an inability to energize ourselves into gear? Maybe if our not even close to socialized healthcare system could somehow create a job position that can help solve the otherwise benign pathology of lack of follow through, we would all be in better shape (literal and figurative).

I’ll let you down easy now. It’s not a motivation problem. And it’s not anyone else’s problem but your own. What you’ve got is a case of your intentions not aligning with your freedom of choice. And to top it all off these have gone caputs because of our continual reliance on social factors, relationships, and our interactions with others in order to gauge our wellbeing (and overall happiness).

Say what? Yeah, you bet. Let me explain.

Let’s take smoking. You say you want to quit, but then you don’t. And then you say it again, and maybe even ask for help, but then don’t follow through, etc. etc. And here you are, still smelling like an ash tray. So, is it your lack of motivation that is the culprit?

No. It’s your misaligned intentions which affect your freedom of choice. Let me explain. You probably wanted to stop smoking because your sensitive boyfriend puts up a hissy fit every time you do, and since you kind of like him, you decide to play along.

Point #1: motivation will always fail when it is rooted in anything other than your own personal making.

So now you are going to try to quit smoking mostly for your own health, but also because your boyfriend bitches and moans a lot. Then you get to that quiet time, where you normally do your thing, but you tell yourself you’re not going to. But then you think maybe I will. But then you don’t. But then you do. And then since you did, you might as well enjoy two. Because, you know, you’ll quit tomorrow.

Well guess what buttercup? No you won’t. You’ve got to get your intentions in line, otherwise your ability to make decisions in life (your free will) no longer feels like a freedom of choice. And the truth of the matter is, choosing is easy. If you have everything in line, showing up to your own life and following through with your own desires, goals, dreams, and intentions is easy. When there are strings tugging you, shifting your perspective to thinking about how your boyfriend would respond, or what your mother would think, then our intentions and choices are no longer pure.

So ask yourself: what are my intentions? What/where are they rooted in? And if you find yourself not following through, then come back to check yourself. Here’s the real kicker: maybe it’s time to change what you think your intentions are and have an honest conversation with yourself about what you really want in life.

You’re right, life is big, let’s start small. Maybe you need to check in with yourself and ask if you even want to quit smoking in the first place.

And it hits hard, you know, because our reality doesn’t always align with what Dr. Oz is talking about, or what our very expensive university degree promotes. Sometimes our reality is that we are a half assed, witty, lazy, smoker.

Now I’m not saying you should stay there. Reality is fluid and it’s only alive because it moves. So figure out what direction you honestly want to head towards, without the influence of your mom, Walt Disney, or your significant other. Then start showing up to those decisions with the fervor of your own personal freedom.

And like clockwork, if you find yourself failing at the showing up part, go back to square one and ask yourself if this is what you actually want. Because most of the time, the direct answer would be: No. You don’t want to quit smoking. You want everyone else to quit berating you about it.

Dr. Kristen Acesta, ND, RH Naturopathic physician and registered herbalist at Mission Creek & Wellness, co-owner of Salt Creek Apothecary. becomeyourmission.org saltcreekapothecary.com