instant gratification
I’ve always bought into the mindset of instant gratification. This isn’t a good thing.
If I need shoes, I don’t look around. I’ll just get these over priced ones right now. If I want to have a burger, I probably won’t wait till after work. I’ll probably hop into a cab and head over to Mickey Dee’s on my lunch break.
Harmless examples? For the most part. However, this mindset seems to apply itself to my bigger decisions rather than to my less significant ones. Additionaly, I try my best to convince myself that my choices are the best ones for me. When I make a big, rushed decision, I’ll defend it with a passion.
"Of course I should live in China forever! It’s the only place that I’m really happy," I’ll say.
"It’s best for me to teach at that school. It’s not inside Beijing but I want to teach at a regular K-12 school."
"I need to buy this car. It’s the only decent one in my price range right now even though it’s a manual transmission and I want to live in San Francisco. (there are LOTS of hills in San Francisco)"
What usually happens is that I’ll stick by my decision and then second guess myself later on. I suppose this is what I’m doing now with my decision to live in China forever. I’m also second guessing my thoughts on being will to return to the United States.
It’s too bad that when I make a hasty decision, I usually really do believe that I’m doing the right thing. That makes it pretty hard to make the best rational decision.
