My dietary aspirations have taken a pratfall again. It’s not my fault; it’s self-licensing.
Never heard of the inherent human travail before? Here’s your definition of the Word of the Day: n. The unconscious tendency to allow yourself to do something bad after you’ve done something good.
The ying-yang of psyche, the devil lurking inside the halo – with an unobstructed view of my life, ready to pounce at any promise, any oath.
It’s the devil’s fault, not my own.
As a writer, I’m obligated to do a lot of research. Endless hours surfed on mind-enriching waves of Googled information, seeking details and data to write my book. With an occasional detour to troll Facebook…
Apparently marketers and social psychologists have long known self-licensing, the tendency to allow oneself to indulge after doing something positive first. It’s the impulse that propels my rapid trajectory from the scale straight to the pantry after I’ve lost a few pounds.
There’s an upside to this tragic trait, as there always is: one can call exercise fun….In what lifetime will that happen for me?
To be fair, as ever I aspire to be, psychology states that this moral/self licensing apparently applies as much to behavior as it does to eating. Thus, I can convince myself that I look better with a few extra pounds of plump! Self talk works like that.
Hmmn-n. Moral self-licensing could explain the counterproductive result of worshippers who attend Sunday services and leave all their moral goodness behind in the pew, as crumpled as the paper bulletin trashed on the way out the door. The door behind which the devil of self-licensing lurks.
What’s your self-licensing flair, Constant Reader?
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