SABOTAGE

SABOTAGE

I often pause to think about a word as defined by Webster juxtaposed on my experience with the word. Sabotage (to deliberately destroy, damage or obstruct something) is the current word. Why? I am trying to change a bad habit or two.

Everything about the definition of sabotage has a negative connotation. However, thinking of my saboteurs, I must say that my day-to-day interactions with them may be negative long-term, but they are often pleasurable and seductive.

Here’s how sabotage happens in my household. Saboteurs are most likely not going to be foreign or a stranger… you live with them; they are your friends. We decided to eat dinner by 7 PM. If we can’t meet that deadline, we will go to bed hungry. Around 5:45 when I should start preparing dinner, the phone rings and I decide to answer. At 6:30, I am still on the phone pushing us closer to the dinner deadline. The phone was fun, and I was thoroughly engaged. There was nothing negative about it, yet the dinner time deadline is out the window. Plug in your example.

Here's how it unfolds for the gym routine. For the proper amount of sleep, I must be in bed with lights out by 10 PM. Just as I am about to turn the TV off or put the cellphone away, a new TV show, documentary, or YouTube catches my attention and sucks me in. None of the pre-bed rituals are taken care of before 10 PM. I enjoyed watching the TV show or chasing YouTube down a rabbit hole. I am late, very late getting to bed. Late to bed increases the potential of oversleeping and exhaustion. Oversleeping interrupts the morning flow and jeopardizes my attendance at the 6:30 AM exercise class.

Both saboteurs are pleasurable but have a negative effect on getting me to where I want to go.

In both cases, I recognized what was happening and formulated a back-up plan. However, most of the time saboteurs are much more covert (look in the mirror). Covert saboteurs are much harder to trap and stop. One of the best offenders is the calendar. If calendar and goals are not aligned, goals are likely to be sabotaged. Or try giving up sugar. It lives in the shadow of almost anything eaten that is not prepared personally.

So, what have I tried to teach myself about staying ahead of sabotage? Pay attention to intentions. I try to guard against saboteurs with a simple question: how does this action get me closer to the desired destination? In the small space created by attention to intentions, I can get a clearer sense of how inattentiveness allows the saboteur to erect a stronghold. Knowing is an opportunity for me to sabotage the offender. The table is reversed. The sabotaged becomes the saboteur. It works sometimes.

2 Timothy 1:7

PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Know who or what sabotages you as well as they know you.

SELF SABOTAGE