Balancing Accounts

Many of our choices can be divided into one of two categories: deposits or withdrawals. Let me explain what I mean. When you chose to swallow your pride and apologize for your role in an argument or hurtful conversation, you make a deposit in that relationship. When you hold on to bitterness for what you think they meant when they said what they said, you are making a withdrawal. When you get up early and take the time to prepare healthy meals for the day and then hit the gym before work, you are making a deposit, not only in the efficiency of that day, but also in your health for the future. When you grab a donut in the lunchroom on the way to the meeting, it’s a withdrawal from your long-term health and your own effectiveness. When you hit the snooze button, you make a withdrawal in the sense that you began your day with a compromise and cut short your time to prepare for work and get ready for the day ahead. In a very literal sense, when you make a withdrawal you are stealing from the future version of yourself and quite possibly, the future of others.

We are humans and inevitably we make mistakes and take a withdrawal. Sometimes these are even planned events, just like a scheduled purchase. Two nights ago, I took my lovely bride out for a wonderful dinner at a very nice restaurant here in town. We had a large sampler plate as an appetizer with several scrumptious but deep-fried foods, then huge steaks with all the fixings plus French fries, and finally, topped off the meal with some cheesecake and peanut butter pie for dessert. It was wonderful but certainly a withdrawal from the health and fitness account (not to mention my bank account).

But these withdrawals should be the exception and not the rule. We must be characterized by regular and consistent deposits in the accounts of our future selves. Furthermore, we must be vigilant to limit withdrawals and be wary of choices that cause us to steal from the future version of ourselves.

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