Make Your Shoulder Angel and Devil Befriend Each Other

When I was very young I watched Tom & Jerry, Cartoon Network cartoons like Dexter’s Laboratory and Johnny Bravo, and Hanna-Barbera cartoons like the Flinstones and the Jetsons. Many funny moments stuck with me, including a shoulder angel and shoulder devil bickering about what the character should or should not do. This stuck with me because we all face situations where 2 voices start speaking in our minds. One voice says: no don’t do that, you shouldn’t be doing that, and the other voice says: yes do it do it, you deserve it, it won’t do you any harm! The latter is very good at making excuses. You were planning not to order take away tonight? Well, that shoulder devil can come up with 100 reasons why tonight is the best evening to actually order take away! The same applies to our phones. One voice says “stop using your phone”, but the other voice says: “5 more minutes doesn’t hurt anyone!” We are in a constant battle in our minds. We know better, but because of that shoulder devil, we often don’t do better. What I’ve taught myself, is to make the angel and devil befriend one another. They are both right, but the question is when. You want to plan your day and schedule your time in such a way that the devil and angel won’t argue over petty matters. All activities and decisions for that day should be clear in advance. That’s why it’s important to plan your leisure time, entertainment, and social media time. If you’re using social media a lot, and you want to cut your use drastically, you will notice that the shoulder devil will appear often because he is not used to seeing you with such new intentions. The shoulder devil doesn’t understand why you suddenly use social media or your smartphone less. You want to prepare yourself for his frequent appearance. You do that by strengthening your shoulder angel. Feed the shoulder angel with information such as why it is so important to reduce your social media usage. Be clear about what’s at stake here, how is social media impacting your life adversely? How do you want to see your relationship with your device and social media? How do both fit in your desired lifestyle? Answer these questions carefully. The more these answers are clear to you, the more intel your shoulder angel has to overpower your shoulder devil. Both voices will always exist and can appear randomly. What’s important is that we are ready for both voices and that we are clear about when an activity is or isn’t allowed.