I was home this week with a sick child. I was amazed at how stubborn she could be when it came to treatments to make her feel better. At one point she wouldn’t even swallow a spoon full of butter-honey to coat a sore throat. With a decent amount of struggling, I was finally able to get the needed medicines into her, and she is now on the mend, but it was a struggle.

This got me to thinking. How often to the rest of us (grown ups even) fight against what is good for us? Did you go to the gym today? Did you eat fast food for lunch? Did you yell at the kids all the way to school this morning, before dropping them off? Did you fight with your significant other on the way to work? There are so many things in life that we do and even in the mist of doing them we think to ourselves, “Oh boy, this is stupid”.

So why do we do that? My guess is the almost epidemic mindset that has hit western society, and that is instant gratification. Everything is available right now, and it doesn’t last more than a year. Our advances are the exact same thing that is making us week. You barely have to leave your home for anything today – it’s all brought to you. We work from home and our paycheck is deposited automatically. The bills are paid online or automatically, the groceries are bought online and delivered to the door. We can even buy sex online and have it delivered to the house. No wonder a 10 year old will fight what they do not want – when in regard to anything else she pretty much gets what she wants.

Technology is a good thing, I’m happy for the advances in medical sciences etc. But where do we draw the line. We have online games where we can explore the caves of the world, or journey across a country… what’s wrong with taking a real hike? It’s just as much fun (if not more) and so much better for us.

So the next time your little preteen is screaming “I don’t want to do that!” Remember all the times YOU don’t do what you don’t want to do.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard