All of us have undoubtedly made the statement “I don’t feel like it” a number of times. This expression in this particular instance has nothing to do with whether or not we are having a coronary or a migraine; it has to do with something that we need to do and should do but don’t want to do. So we simply say, “I just don’t feel like it.”
There’s been an ongoing conflict between doing our own thing and not doing things we really don’t want to do because we don’t feel like doing them. But the question is whether we can trust those feelings.
Looking at the physical, any of you who ever have participated in any athletic endeavor know there have been many occasions when you did not “feel like” going out for practice. But because you did not want to incur the wrath of the coach and face possible dismissal from the team, you grudgingly got prepared, went to the practice field and started the routine. A few minutes after you got into action, you began to feel a little better, and the more action you took the better you felt. Then you went all out.
The message is simple: Do it and you will feel like doing it.
What about our feelings toward other people? C.S. Lewis wrote: “The rule for all of us is do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love your neighbor.’ Act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you love someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”
Take the do-something-for-others approach, and I’ll see you at the top!
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