I’ve been thinking about our belief systems a lot recently and had a couple of interesting conversations with Greg.

Saturday night, we went out to dinner, and we did our “typical” thing.  We both ordered a martini to start off with, and then he ordered a bottle of wine to be opened and ready for us to drink when our meals came. 

We leisurely enjoyed our meals and cocktails, but after a couple of sips of my red wine, I decided that I didn’t really want it.  I was feeling kind of full and a little “fuzzy,” and I just didn’t like it.  I didn’t say anything to him because I didn’t think it was necessary.  I just stopped drinking it and drank my water instead.

After he paid the check, I stood up to leave….leaving a mostly full glass of wine on the table.  He asked if I was going to drink it, and I told him no, that I was done drinking for the night.  He looked at me a little quizzically, then picked it up and chugged it down.  I didn’t really think much of it; I just figured he wanted it.  No biggie.

We walked a couple of miles home; I got in my jammies, had a cup of tea, and then we went to bed early.  

The next morning I asked him if he wanted to go for a walk through Central Park.  As we were walking there, we were reflecting on the night before, and he said, “I can’t believe you didn’t finish your wine last night.”  I told him that I just didn’t want it and explained what I was feeling the night before.  

He responded, “Well, it was a $200 bottle of wine, and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.”

To that, I said, “That’s fine if that’s what you wanted to do.  To me, it wasn’t worth drinking  it no matter how much it cost.”

He scoffed a bit, but that was about it.  We went about our walk.  

This is where it really got interesting.  

He was feeling a little hungry, so he stopped at a food truck to get a gyro and a can of Coke.

He finished the gyro and then started sipping on the Coke.  I think he must have finished about half of it and then said to keep an eye out for a trash can because he didn’t want any more.  

Totally unprovoked, he said, “You know, in the past, I would’ve drunk this whole can even though I didn’t want anymore.  I would have finished it because I felt that since I paid for it, I should finish it.  But I’ve learned that the $2 isn’t worth me finishing it.  It’s not like soda has any nutritional value, and the $2 is not worth me putting all of that sugar and stuff into my body.”

I kind of stopped and looked at him for a minute, and said, “$2 is not worth putting unwanted sugar and whatnot into your body, but $200 is worth putting unwanted alcohol and whatnot into your body.”

He 100% believed that chugging wine that he did really want was justified because of the price. 

That it was not “ok” to leave it behind because of that. (I did not try to convince him; otherwise, he was pretty stuck to this belief.)

Isn’t it nuts when you really think about it?!

Yet, SO many people believe things like this!!

Our society has taught us that we shouldn’t waste!  

That there are starving people in the world and that we are “bad” if we throw stuff away. 

We, or someone else, paid for the food or drinks, and it would be rude not to finish it all.

Oh, how I used to believe bullshit like this, and so many of my clients struggle daily with this.

Through life coaching, this is one thing that I have really become aware of, and I am SO glad!

What I believe now and what I want to shout to the rooftops is this:

We may have grown up with belief systems like this, but we don’t have to keep believing them.

When we eat and drink things we don’t want, we waste an opportunity to do what is right for us.  

When we eat and drink things we don’t want, we physically and mentally make ourselves feel bad.

When we eat and drink things that we don’t want, we are being rude to ourselves and denying ourselves what we really want.

You need to take care of YOU and your needs!  

Ready to challenge some of those old beliefs?!

Click on the link and schedule your free chat today!

I can help you!

xo