A Gift To Your Future Self

I have a batch of homemade cookies in my kitchen. It is very tempting to be eating one at all times, and not doing so is testing the limits of my self control. The way I am trying to fight against my sugar cravings is by considering every cookie not eaten as a gift to my future self, something which I do rather a lot - I often think about trying to postpone the happiness of my current self for the greater happiness of the version of me that exists in the future. It’s a hard balancing act, as obviously you don’t want to lose focus entirely on your present self, especially when unforeseeable circumstances might get in the way of your future self’s now-hard-fought happiness, but in the minutiae of life such as eating cookies, I think it’s a good way of looking at things.

There are lots of different gifts you can give your future self though, not just tattoos. I think if my current self can derive happiness from the gift-giving nature of self restraint, then there’s a lot of ways this mindset could be applicable to a happy, fulfilled life.