Author: Insight Allergy
The frugal are austere, and the extravagant are indulgent.
In 1925, the American scientist Mai Kai did a special experiment.
He placed a group of juvenile rats in separate cages.
Group A enjoys the "most favored treatment", providing them with plenty of food to feed them all day long.
Group B, on the other hand, was "discriminated against", giving them only 60% of their food, deliberately leaving them hungry.
Unexpectedly, the results of the experiment surprised everyone.
Group A was slow to move and did not live for 1,000 days before "dying young".
The B group of rats lived for more than 2,000 days to die, and the fur was smooth, the skin was tight, the movement was fast, and even the immunity was stronger than that of the "full rat".
This is known as the "hungry rat effect":
Proper moderation, good development; excessive satisfaction, premature aging and short life.
As Chen Daoming said: "The highest mood of being a human being is temperance, not release." ”
When I was young, I always felt that life was short and I should be happy in time.
As the years went on, I discovered that every unrestrained act would bring you greater pain in the future.
01
There is a saying in the Book of Rites: "Pride must not be long, and desire must not be indulged." ”
Indulgence is human nature, but life is the process of constantly overcoming nature.
The writer Bo Bonnie has said a story about her past.
In those years of her twenties, she had a surprisingly good appetite and never knew moderation.
At that time, she loved to eat buffets, and four or two plates of lamb could easily eat eight plates.
Late at night, I would ask my friends to go to the kebab stall, drink wine and eat meat.
When she doesn't eat skewers, she cooks her own food, sweet and sour ribs, beer duck, dry pot fat sausage, and eats a mouth full of oil.
At that time, like the "full rat" in the experiment, she ate and drank uncontrolled every day, and her weight suddenly increased to more than one hundred and thirty pounds.
Even she herself said, "It's a disaster for my height." ”
Her father looked at her so indulgently, worried all day.
To reassure her father, she made up her mind to start losing weight.
She quit self-help, quit greasy food, and stopped eating haycocks.
It was really difficult at first, but when she started to get used to it, she gradually liked the state of "slightly hungry".
Because of the slight hunger, a bowl of ordinary cornmeal stubble porridge, she can drink the rich aroma of grain; a simple bowl of rice, with a little meat sauce poured on it, she feels that it is heaven.
In this way, she lost nearly 40 pounds back and forth, and at this time, she began to appreciate the new self in the mirror.
As Yan Ni said: "Sometimes, people's own self-restraint is still necessary, and after having it, you will find that there is another scenery." ”
Now you may feel that drinking one more glass of wine and eating more cake is not a big deal.
So, choose to indulge yourself again and again.
But ten years from now, twenty years from now?
You know, you in the last ten years of your life are determined by each present you.
02
Psychologist Hugh McKay once mentioned a "desire-happiness" curve in the psychology of desire.
When a person's desires are very small, as long as a small expectation is met, he will feel great happiness.
But when desire increases to a certain extent, happiness will not increase again, but will quickly fall to the bottom.
In this lifetime, what a person seeks is a degree, and if he passes, he will become a disaster.
Wang Baoqiang once told him in "Thirteen Invitations" about an incident before he became famous.
At that time, he was famous for his emergence in "No Thief in the World", and many directors and producers came to invite him.
One of them is a relatively special cameo that only takes a day or two to shoot to get a huge salary.
After Wang Baoqiang's mother knew, she asked him to hurry up for the first time.
"In the rural countryside, it's really tempting to make a cameo a day to give so much money."
This kind of pie that falls from the sky is difficult not to be moved by anyone in front of them.
But Wang Baoqiang finally refused.
When his mother heard about it, she didn't understand it and angrily rebuked him: "Give you so much money, why don't you go!" ”
He said: "You have to restrain yourself and control your desire for money. You can't let others take you with you, frame yourself, and limit yourself. ”
In his opinion, he is not from a science class, and he has today's results by mistake. Only by taking good care of your feathers will you fly farther.
If he is easily tempted by high film remuneration to make short-term quick money, then he will only centrifuge the "movie dream" farther and farther away.
There is an Egyptian proverb that says, "Man can restrain his desires, even if he is in charge of his own life and his destiny." ”
The horse travels thousands of miles without deviating from the route, because of the reins.
The same is true of people, if you want to go further, you must have super self-control.
Only by exercising restraint and keeping the original intention can you get closer to your goal.
Only in your life can the water flow to the sea in a straight stream, rather than the ravines running around and hitting the wall.
Without a little self-restraint, if you let yourself float in the sea of desire, you will eventually become a slave to desire.
03
In "Zhuangzi", there is a craftsman named Ziqing, who can make a high-quality musical instrument.
Lu Hou asked him, "How is this done?" ”
The craftsman said: "Before making musical instruments, fast for seven days, forget your mind, body, money, honor, and forget the existence of the imperial court." ”
Temperance is a kind of inner self-discipline.
When people are in a tempting environment, whether they can grasp the scale and not be confused by desire is the key to success in life.
Zhang Yiming in the university, self-proclaimed "Moral Champion Lang".
When other people date and fall in love, he reads books and knocks code; others play cards and games, he reads books and knocks code.
After graduating from college, some students went to foreign companies and received high salaries;
Some students joined the it department of the bank and solved the Beijing account;
Instead, he chose a start-up company to do the most basic crawler program and continue to deepen the technology.
He said to avoid mediocrity, to reject the pressures and temptations that pull you toward mediocrity.
Yi Shu has a sentence in "Indian Ink", which is intriguing:
"I carried a bag and picked it up as I walked, picking up countless things I didn't want along the way. By the time I came across something I really wanted, the bag was full. ”
Life is like a pocket, when you put something in, you will definitely squeeze out some things, just like if you want to stay up late, you have to sacrifice your health, and to satisfy your appetite, you have to give up your body.
Temperance is not an erasure of happiness, but a wisdom that abandons small temptations and pursues great freedom.
Only by abandoning the short-term interests in front of us can we vacate the position to embrace long-term returns.
On the road to growth, there is moderation, so that there will be more to have and get later.
▽
"Huan Fan" has a saying: "The frugal one abstains from desire, and the extravagant person is indulgent." Those who let loose are in danger, and those who abstain from sex are safe. ”
Perhaps, we have all lost to the "hungry rat effect".
But as long as you have a heart to change, it's never too late to start.
Like it, from today on, every time you restrain a little desire, you have an inch more freedom.