Distorted Thinking That We All Do When We're Not At Our Best - "The Faulty Idea of Heaven's Reward"

When you are looking at the world through this distorted thinking method, you always try to do the "right thing" in hopes of getting a reward. You may sacrifice and slave the whole time while counting on brownie points that you can cash in on some day.

This can easily happen to moms who cook and clean and do endless tasks for family members. They drive their kids to countless activities, sacrifice everything to provide for them, keep impossible hours with little sleep so that everything can be perfect and the house immaculate. They can do this for years and years, all the while hoping for some kind of special reward or appreciation. When it never comes, they feel bitter. The problem is that while these moms are doing "the right thing," they have physically and emotionally drained themselves and became a person no one enjoyed being around.

The fallacy is to think that someone is keeping score rather than choosing to do things because they make you feel good in doing them and have no other motive. Healthy people learn to say yes when they mean yes and no when they mean no rather than suffer in self sacrifice and self denial to get the approval of others.

What area of your life or what current or past situation may be causing you angst due to seeking approval through your sacrifice and self denial? What is another way to look at it and a different approach you can take?

Next Week: Words That Can Change Your Life - Part 1