life on the fence: the price of pleasure

hyperbolic discounting - (def.) the human tendency to prefer smaller payoffs now over larger payoffs later.

normally i don't like to listen to christian radio, but when we're in c's car he tends to have it on. last weekend as we drove through the bluffs of missouri on the way to my parents' house, we were listening to this counseling call-in show. the topic of the day was hyperbolic discounting, or our universal flaw of seeking immediate satisfaction now rather than making better decisions for the long run. though i had never heard of the term before, the concept seemed strangely familiar.

i think i'm queen when it comes to the "act now, deal later" approach to life. i'd much rather buy that pair of pants on sale now and figure out how i'll pay for it later. or, i'm great at putting off things that really need to get done in order to watch just a little more tv or surf the net just a little longer. and, don't get me started on the "eat cake now, work it off later" cycle that plagues my waistline.

imagine the condition i would be in if i reversed that approached and focused more on the long-term implications of my decisions rather than the short-term moments of pleasure. what do i lose, really, by passing on fleeting and temporary desires in return for future financial stability, health and spiritual reward? wouldn't it be more prudent to invest my time and resources into things that have a greater impact than two minutes of chocolatey indulgence?

for years i was a new year's resolution guru. i had a specific system of setting new year's resolutions and measuring how well i did on them. i've kind of let that go by the wayside in the last two or three years. as the holidays approach and '08 is on the horizon, i think it's time to return to my roots, this time with a more intentional goal of forsaking the temporal for something greater.