Making Healthy Choices

The weight loss world talks a lot about making “healthy” choices.  Have you ever thought about what makes a computer purchase ‘healthy?’  I’m talking about healthy as in your ‘pocketbook’ AND an Excellent computer purchase.  How can we make a healthy choice regarding our computers when we often feel like we aren’t really making the choice at all?  We walk into the Big Box store and find ourselves buying that computer from the flyer before we even know what happened. I mean, it was such a GOOD PRICE! Right?  Or, we are in the office supply store thinking we need to avoid the computer aisle and the next thing we know we are in the car with some new device we weren’t even sure we needed.  That is an essential question.  In order to be in charge of our choices, we need to figure out exactly what happened.  That way, we won’t feel controlled by our “bad” decisions and compulsive purchases. 

For many of us, what happened goes something like this:  As we walked into the big box store and saw the rows of computers, many thoughts bombarded us in a flash. “My computer is so slow, I wish I had a new one, but I shouldn’t buy it now, there are so many to choose from, and I will be sorry if I don’t buy just the right one.  But the price seems right and I’m here…the computers are here…I deserve a new computer!  But I shouldn’t…that’s so impulsive.  Then another voice chimes in.  “I want what I want when I want it.  And I need it now.”  Suddenly, I am feeling angry that I can’t buy a new computer now and everyone else can, and I really want it, and I hate these decisions.  You get the idea.  So you pick up the best computer you see on the shelf or maybe the best priced computer and take it home ready to enjoy it.  Then you find out that Office is just a trial, so you have to make another purchase; and the printer that came in your wonderfully priced ‘bundle’ is a cheap piece of plastic, so you need to go buy a printer; oh, and the warranty…that ends up not being with the manufacturer of the computer at all, but with the big box store.  If only they would fix it for you; but it has to be shipped off to who knows where to get fixed (for two weeks) and it has all your Personal Data on it!  The entire time you are stressing about your data, who is looking at it, who is extracting copying it, and how can you get any work done without a computer?

Arrggh!   

In order to conquer the inner battle that leads to unhealthy choices it is essential to become aware of these thoughts and be able to recognize and hear them as they are happening.  This inner dialogue is called self talk. It is both possible and necessary to detect these often unconscious thoughts.  We can focus our attention on what is going on in our mind and how we are talking to ourselves. Get a pad or notebook and have it handy for jotting down these thoughts as you bring them to you consciousness.  After we have become more familiar with the self talk that generates our choices, we can learn to reframe these thoughts to be a supportive and productive aide to ourselves in making healthy and satisfying choices in our purchases.

Give Bev The Geek a call for assistance in purchasing your next computer.  Maybe all you need is an upgrade…  did you know: “More memory: It’s the quickest, easiest, cheapest upgrade.” - PC Magazine.