Sandi vs the Voice of Temptation

You may not recognise me at first. But trust me, you know me well.

I'm the voice that makes you crave those "Light and Tangy" potato

chips, and the mocha cream puff - the one with inch-thick cream

and smooth lemon vanilla custard, sandwiched between light choux

pastry with mocha flavoured icing on top, drizzled with chocolate. Do

you know who I am now?

I'm the reason you smoke 20 cigarettes every day - you try to give

up, but we both know you always cave in and smoke all the more.

We both know you'll never give up. You like it too much. In fact, you

need one right now, don't you? Go on: have one. You know it's no

risk, even sensible Logic tells you that people get killed just crossing

the road. "We've all gotta die sometime" - right? And, don't worry

about that cream puff - you can walk the dogs later to work the

calories off. Ok, so we both know Procrastination will come along and

you'll put it off until tomorrow - but don't worry about that now. You

need a cigarette and one more is not going to kill you (not right now

anyway). Why not enjoy the moment? Got ya! See: it works every

time!

Remember the other day when you "chose" not to go to school

because, after all, you weren't going to miss anything important,

were you? That was me. Ha! There you were, snuggled in your fluffy

doona, sleepy, and warm. As you woke, you sensed the dark clouds

outside dimming the room, and you heard the rain splattering on the

roof and lashing at the windows, and it was such a good idea to stay

there wasn't it? Yes, you certainly thought so at the time. You

missed the start of a new topic at school, but hey, you'll catch up.

Of course the first thing you'll have to do is finish catching up on the

theory you missed from before ... but you can do it ... later. Things

always work out - just go with the flow - hey, I wouldn't want you

to worry now, would I? Trust me!

Trust you? Now that you've revealed your true colours I realise what

a fool I've been. I've listened to you all along, going against what I

truly knew was good for me, all the time unaware of your power over

me. It was you that talked me into going out for dinner and to see a

movie with friends the other night when I knew I had an assignment

due the next day. Better Judgement tried to get through to me but

couldn't be heard over your alluring False Logic. Better Judgement

tried to tell me that I could catch up with friends another time, but

you told me that there was no need to miss out on an enjoyable

night. You lied and said I could quickly finish off my assignment when

I got home. You and your friend, Self-Sabotage, tricked me! I had to

stay up into the early hours of the morning to finish that assignment

- I got three hours sleep. And, what's worse, I wasn't happy with

what I handed in. It could have been much better, if I had had more

time...

It was also you that made me buy those new jeans when I couldn't

afford to. They were on special, you kept reminding me - I'd save

$40 by buying them now. At that price, you said, they'd be sold out

in a few days. It was an opportunity too good to pass up, you said,

so I bought them. I was late paying the rent because of you! Trust

you? Never again!

And, now that I know you are the reason why I haven't been able to

quit smoking, you can expect that to change too! Don't bother trying

your tricks on me any more. I'm going to quit smoking. I know how

you work now and that means that I'm the one with the power. I

know how to extinguish your efforts to control me. And I've got help:

I now have Inner Strength to stop me from falling for your False

Logic, and I have Self-Preservation to remind me to cherish my

physical and mental health. I listen to Reality and Truth now. They

tell me that smoking is bad for my health, that it makes me, and

everything around me, smell ... and it's burning a huge hole in my

pocket. So, Temptation, how does it feel to be powerless, impotent?

Surely you don't expect me to continue smoking now that I know how

you lie to me, trick me and put me down. You think I'm weak do you?

Well, you're going to wish you never...

Oh shut up and cut out the stupid rhetoric will you? Have another

cigarette and a glass of wine - you know it'll make you feel better,

and then I won't have to put up with all of this self-absorbed rubbish

any more. Enough is enough!

Oh ... Ok, sorry if I upset you.