Guilty Pleasure – Why are we afraid of enjoyment?
Have you ever stopped to listen to some of the phrases that people use? We hear these utterances from our friends, strangers and commercials.
“guilty pleasures”
“sinful delight”
Why is chocolate sinful?
Why is something that is so enjoyable called an extremely bad thing?
Why is it a guilty pleasure to plop down on a couch, kick up our feet and sip our favorite beverage for a much-deserved break?
Why should something that gives us pleasure make us feel guilty?
I find it interesting that those are not go-to phrases in other countries. Dessert is delicious and not sinful. Taking a break is relaxing and not a guilty pleasure.
Some day I’ll need to research the origins of those phrases and whether or not they’ve affected our perceptions of enjoyment. Maybe it’s my line of work, but so many of my clients never stop to reward themselves for their accomplishments, no matter how big or small they are. I once asked a client what she did to celebrate accomplishing a benchmark on the way to one of her big goals, and she looked at me as if I had just landed from another planet. She’d never considered such a concept before. She didn’t deserve such an “indulgence” until she was completely done, right?
Many of my clients don’t take time out for themselves to relax and fully recharge. They see this as a guilty pleasure. Yet taking a break is something they will do as a medical necessity when their brains, bodies or emotions are nearing a breaking point. Recharging is so much more enjoyable when it’s done proactively instead of as a health-saving reaction.
I encourage you to see fun or pleasing activities as exactly that instead of guilty or sinful. Enjoy yourself. Every day. You deserve it.