I'm Just Not In The Mood To....

On the way home Friday night I was listening to a self-help radio program. I didn't hear much of what they were talking about so I was left to draw my own conclusions. However, the gist was that things that you "Have To Do" generally have a much more positive and lasting impact on your life and your psyche than the things you are "In The Mood To Do" (or conversely allowing yourself to get talked out of the the things you Have To Do because you're Not In The Mood).

I thought about that for a couple days and let it really marinate in my brain until, last night, I think I finally got it.

I am in training for an indoor cycling event. Yesterday we had a 3 1/2 hour ride. I was Not In The Mood to do it, but I knew it was something I Have To Do. After 3 1/2 hours I felt much better about myself, had made friends with the riders in the room and am now looking forward (kinda) to next week's training. I was proud of myself and that had a lasting impact.

Contrast this with things that I have been In The Mood to do. On a beautiful afternoon with sunny skies, I will generally be in the mood to sit on my back porch read a magazine and drink a bottle of wine. This, obviously, has no positive lasting impact on my life. It only makes me happy for the moment, and in fact has a lasting negative impact on my life because of all the guilt and self-hate that will come the next day.

There is a corollary to this theory as well - allowing yourself to get sidetracked from the things you Have To Do because you're Not In The Mood to do them. I am often Not In The Mood to work out, but it is a Have To Do for both my mental and physical well being. I am also often Not In The Mood to do the self-help exercises and introspection that I know is necessary for me to get through this spot. I have to push through the Mood to do what I Have To Do. I have to fight the Not In The Mood (which is sometimes fairly powerful) to get to the Have To Do.

Now I am not saying that everything that you Have To Do will have a positive impact on your life. Going to the dentist, while a Have To Do, is not going to change your life for the better (unless you're British). But if you really look at your life activities and pay attention to the things that in your mind you Have To Do and the things in your mind that you are just In The Mood To Do I think you will see what I have seen - in general the Have To Do's are more fulfilling. And the real challenge is to not let your Moods sway you from the things you Have To Do.

So, dear reader, I am off for a run and then an hour or two of serious introspection. Not because I am In The Mood to do either of these things necessarily, but because I Have To Do them.