Tipping Points

Emotionally we are a wreck and we try so very hard to keep that outward semblance of control. It takes very little to tilt us back to uncontrolled chaos – drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, self –loathing, procrastination, binge eating, etc.

If something does not work out in our lives – like having a stressful day we use it as an excuse to revisit our bad habits. A form of reprise from the mundane, structured and disciplined life we live.

The point where we say, “Damn it, I’ve had enough! It’s time for a drink” is the tipping point we need to be wary of (if drinking is a problem for you that’s is)

What happens once we tip is that we lose all sense of control and go all out ending up in a worse place then we were before we started getting our lives back on track.

The key is to identify when these tipping points arise and begin to quell it with activities that are good for your well-being. If having a stressful day or a fight with your spouse is your tipping point and you decided to overeat to compensate for that stress, then you are going to use that as an excuse every time you get into an unhappy emotional state.

We all intrinsically know what our tipping points are – are how we look to our vices to feel better. We also know what our vices are – those habits and activities that tend to destroy us.

The deadly thing about tipping points is that we tend to justify our vices to get over the current strife we are feeling and end up going overboard. We have given away our control – and left our basest desires in charge.

When we try so hard to overcome what keeps us down, unhappy, miserable, frustrated and stressed, all the work we have put in goes to utter waste once we indulge in our tipping points. We have to start all over again – it’s a messy, ugly place – and your life will be an endless circle with no improvement.

Learn to see the tipping point before it’s too late. Take heed of your emotional and physical justifications to indulge in your vice. These thoughts creep up, slowly and if not quelled, become a flood that you cannot stop.

The key is to identify when it arises. Meditation really helps – as you become wary and critical of your thoughts.

Confide in a trusted friend, who knows what you are going through and maybe they can be there to offer support when you are about to hit your tipping point. Its normal to have desires for our vices and the things that will destroy us – after all we are human.

Don’t beat yourself up over that, but try to learn to say “no thank you” since you have the option to choose a more wholesome behavior that will benefit you and the people who love you.