For the umteenth time, I witnessed my father partake in a night of, let’s call it “reckless” eating, and for the umteenth time, I attempted an intervention:
“At any point last night, during your inhalation of four slices of pizza, three-quarters of a pint of raspberry-crumb-cheesecake gelato and a Tito’s martini, did your long-term health ever cross your mind?”
“You know, that’s a good question.” He responded. “Probably not.”
Probably not.
I only continue wasting my breath because this man is my best friend and I care about him deeply. However, it’s hard to help people who distort reality. And while I understand, I don’t fully empathize.
Paleoanthropologist, Daniel Lieberman explains in The Story of the Human Body:
“We didn’t evolve to be healthy, but instead we were selected to have as many offspring as possible under diverse, challenging conditions. As a consequence, we never evolved to make rational choices about what to eat or how to exercise in conditions of abundance and comfort.”
Makes sense. But applying the same logic, we certainly did not evolve to sit at a desk for more than a third of our days. So, what if we just stopped doing all the things we haven’t evolved to do? Would it be rational to stop showing up to the office and expect not to get fired and eventually go broke?
Probably not.
Neither the toil of work, nor the quest for good health, provides us with the instant gratification our race so craves. If we could get away with avoiding both, we would. Nobody can dispute the importance of being in good health. It is as important, if not more important than making money, since what is the point of busting our asses for forty years if we’re not going to be well enough to enjoy the fruits of our labor?
Why then, do we accept the merits of having long-term wealth, and not long-term health?
If I began treating my body as many do—like a dumpster fire—it would be years before I noticed anything truly adverse. I may develop a dad-bod in the interim, but our backwards society has even found a way to make those trendy. Conversely, if I were to stop showing up to the office (when there isn’t a mandatory stay-at-home), it would be a week, two at most, before I got the boot.
Thus, we ignore our health and not our careers because the negative consequences of the former, never seem that close; we always feel that there will be time to address them in the future. But sooner or later, they do come.
And whether the proverbial reality check is issued when we discover our old jeans no longer fit, or when the doctor tells us we’re prediabtic, undoubtedly, reality will be there saying: Nice try, but I make the rules.
Whenever this happens, the bastard that coaxed us into thinking we could outmaneuver the powers of the universe, will not be there to save us; that bastard is our ego.
Like a sleazy salesman, our ego is constantly pitching us something that satisfies his/her needs in the present, convincing us to disregard the future. My father’s ego is making a killing on selling him gelato.
“That’s a problem for future Homer.” Homer Simpson famously said once during an epic binge.
Yet, Homer had the luxury of not being real—we don’t. The future is coming. Ignoring that fact as it pertains to our health, just like not going into work and thinking nobody will notice—is really dumb. The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves.
I write this piece as a reminder to all those who have succumbed to their ego’s charm this quarantine. With no access to gyms, and junk food within an arm's reach, I understand the temptation to drop anchor on your health pursuits until things go back to “normal.” But, we have no idea what “normal” looks like, nor when things will be returning back to it. Just as in your profession, there is always work to be done on your body. Every moment spent rationalizing unhealthy decisions, is a moment that could have been spent making things less difficult for future you.
Most people have good intentions. However, something always seems to come along to derail their pursuits—like a global pandemic. And when they quit on being healthy for whatever the reason, who is in their ear, vindicating them of this decision? That’s right—that little bastard.
If they prescribe to what he is selling for long enough, eventually, reality will come knocking. And when it does, they will look back at all the times they could have refused his offerings and ask: Was it worth it?
The answer will be no—unequivocally no.
I hope this does not come across as advice to abstain from the abundance of goodness this life has to offer. My desire is only to make clear that just like a vacation from work, those treats are earned, not given.
Life is hard, and being healthy makes it harder. It’s much more appealing to curl an oreo into your mouth than to curl a barbell. But, if you haven’t figured it out by now, or just choose not to realize, delaying gratification is what makes a successful human. It’s a show of selflessness; an ability to identify and reject the fleeting fantasies that your ego is constantly selling you; fantasies that if accepted, will one day get you fired.
One of my favorite quotes is by Ethan Nicthern, who writes: If your mind is a runaway train, your life will be a runaway life.
If you cannot properly assess the potential impact that your present decisions will have on the future, then future you is in a world of trouble.
