Instant Gratification
As much as I wish I was a two marshmallow girl, I'm definitely a 1 marshmallow girl that strives to be a 2 marshmallow girl.
Stanford University conducted a study with young children of the faculty there many years ago. They had the children in a room and the facilitators put 2 marshmallows on a table in the room for each child. Then they told the children, we will be leaving the room. you may eat one marshmallow now or you may have 2 if you wait until we return. The children had no idea how long the facilitators would be gone, but they had to wait until they returned if they were to claim the prize of the 2nd marshmallow.
Some children ate the one marshmallow right away, forfeiting the 2nd. The ones that chose to wait, did whatever it took to keep their mind off the waiting time, tapping their foot, looking at the wall, dancing until they could have both.
They tracked both the one marshmallow kids and the 2 marshmallow kids through their lives, through college. As you might have guessed, the 2 marshmallow kids were more well rounded, did better in school, better on the SATs, attended more prestigious universities. You get the idea.
I had to be honest with myself and admit, I'm a 1 marshmallow girl. I like instant gratification, and am unwilling, much of the time, to put in the time and discipline it takes to be a 2 marshmallow girl. This is true for most things in my life. For some reason, the marshmallow thing popped into my head this morning, and I realized, weight loss is so a 2 marshmallow endeavor and I have been able to be more of a 2 marshmallow girl. Why this, why now - not sure. Have to think about it.