Blog: Awareness is the First Step
by Christy Flater
Photo: Unsplash by Diego PH
I did not recognize that when I raided the pantry after a stressful day and consumed handfuls of chocolate or binged on a carton of ice cream that I was succumbing to a thinking error. I remember the words I would tell myself, “You deserve to eat this, because it makes you feel better. It is not a big deal since it is not hurting anyone.” What began as a failure in judgement, turned into an eating habit that was affecting my ability to choose a healthier lifestyle. I was defending the harmful actions against my body, so the first step for me to overcome this thinking error of justification was to label it and become aware of my lapse in judgement.
That moment of awareness happened for me while I was watching the October 2023 General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During President Russell M. Nelson’s talk, “Think Celestial!,” he shared the following words, “As you think celestial, you will find yourself avoiding anything that robs you of your agency. Any addiction – be it gaming, gambling, debt, drugs, alcohol, anger, pornography, sex, or even food – offends God. Why? Because your obsession becomes your god. You look to it rather than to Him for solace.” His words pierced my soul, and, in that moment, I was able to see that my actions were, in fact, hurting me and more importantly they were hurting my relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a pinnacle turning point in my ability to overcome the thinking error of justification and recognize that it was not serving me well in my life.
I wish I could say that since then, I have never justified any of my actions ever again, but the truth is that I still do, and it is a struggle to overcome. However, this experience has shown me that when I take an active role in my thoughts by becoming more aware of them, then I can choose to act and create a different outcome. I may not always have control over the thoughts that come into my mind, but now I understand that those harmful thoughts no longer have control of my actions.
