My girlfriend and I watched film the other week.
‘Cheap Thrills’ it was called.
She regretted watching it as it was a bit messed up.
About two guys who do a series of progressively more twisted things for money.
At one point one guy has his finger chopped off.
“I can’t believe anyone would do that” Alex said.
“I would” I replied.
We had a bit of chat about it.
She felt she’d hate having that constant reminder that someone had taken some of your pride for money.
I said I couldn’t care less if what I got in exchange was worthwhile.
My kids could have everything they’d ever need, I could care for my parents into old age and do loads of fun stuff.
In exchange for a finger.
I explained I’d already swapped about 40,000 hours of my life for money.
I love what I do, but If I won the lottery (or sold my finger) I’d definitely work less and spend more time with the kids.
She couldn’t agree though.
Which is cool.
We all have our own belief systems.
And it’s when our actions don’t match our beliefs that problems often arise.
It’s called congruence.
And when our actions are incongruent to our beliefs it’s a source of great internal upheaval.
When we feel it’s important to look after ourselves and be healthy but our actions do the opposite, it makes us feel pretty bad.
When we complain about the behaviour of others but find ourselves doing the same when push comes to shove.
When I find myself shouting at the kids despite never approving when others do, I feel pretty rotten.
The important thing is to actually stop and have a think about what you believe.
What you hold dear.
The values you want to love you life by.
And when faced with difficult decisions, really stop and weigh them up against your belief system.
Sometimes you may still make the same decision.
But, as often happens, that simple ‘stop and think’ is often enough to see you right.
Much love,
Jon ‘I’d want a LOT more than the $15,000 he got’ Hall and Matt ‘I wouldn’t eat the dog’ Nicholson
P.S. Here’s that link to a little spoiler for what we’ve got coming your way –www.facebook.com/video.php?v=778851215502081 (you can still see it even if you’re not a FaceBook user) – funky isn’t it? 🙂