"This feeling of deprivation will undermine any effort to pursure long-term disciplines. The dieter will fail as long as he hates low-calorie food. The would be athlete will fail as long as he hates exertion. The tightwad wannabe will fail as long as he views frugality as a lifestyle he has to endure, or was forced into by cirumstance...recognize that you are engaging in the discipline out of choice. You decide to give up something so that you can have something else... This attitude adjustment is like the question 'Is the glass half empty or half full?' When you recognize that you are making a choice, attitudes change from deprivation to empowerment."
Amy Dacyczyn, The Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle
I picked up this book this weekend at the library. Some of the ideas are humorous to me but many of them are making me think hard about how I use my resources. It is challenging me to think: Am I being responsible with what I have? I love the above quote because I find the perspective of empowerment so much easier on my heart than deprivation.
1 comment:
THANK YOU for this. I was just feeling sorry for myself b/c my weightloss is not going as planned. Part of it is my own fault for not being disciplined!! This was very encouraging to me. In fact I'm copying that quote so THANK YOU!!
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