On Self Control

• June 29, 2009
• James Skemp
• article, philosophy

There's a difference between self control and killing something off.

Self control is when you hunger for something, but say no. Killing something off is when you no longer hunger for something.

The former is a near-constant struggle, depending upon how often the hunger makes itself known, while the latter is, once the desire is killed, relatively easy, except perhaps during moments of rememberence. Trying to remember what it was like to have a hunger/desire of a particular sort, can be, at times, more painful than the desire itself.

That's not to say that the hunger can't be temporarily killed off. While attempting to satisfy the hunger it can die off. One either continues through the motions, stops, or tries to determine why the desire has disappeared. Which is worse, in such a case, must depend upon the particular circumstances at the time.