The next thing isn't always the best thing

​After a long run yesterday, I treated myself to a local buffet. Lots of Japanese and Chinese foods. I realized these buffets are set up a lot like social media. They put all the similar foods together, so if you like one of them, chances are you'll keep going down the line and grab several of the others as well.

And like social media, I kept right or scrolling - and the food piled up.

Putting that helping of food on our plate - seeing that next picture on Instagram - it sends a little shot of feel good chemicals through our brain. And it leaves us longing for that next shot. It's our wiring.

So we follow the chemicals and add just one more helping, and we scroll to just one more picture, and the next thing we know we've eaten 4 plates of food and 500 instagram photo collages.

It's amazing how much easier it is to say one more minute on instagram than it is to say one more minute on the treadmill. But for a lot of us that struggle is real.

Seth Godin says, "Of all the buttons and all the swipes and all the scrolls on all the websites, is that one you’re going to click next the very best thing you could be doing right now?"

Sometimes I'm not every good at interrupting the flow of what feels good to stop and ask the question, 'is this next thing I'm going to do the very best thing I could be doing right now?"

Is one more plate of food really the very best thing for me.

Is one more picture really the best use of my time right now.

The brain is a powerful 'feel-good-seeker'. It's obsessed with us feeling happy. So it's always on the hunt for quick and cheap fixes that will give us instant shots of happy.

Shots of food. Shots of scrolling. Shots of alcohol.

But here's the thing, our minds and our hearts and our souls are more powerful than the brain. They are 'be-good-seekers.'

Be healthy. Be kind. Be productive. And it's in THOSE beings that we find ultimate and lasting happiness.

Unfortunately, more powerful doesn't mean easier. To put 'be good' ahead of 'feel good' isn't always easy. It requires us to stop and frequently ask ourselves: who am I and what do I want out of this life?

It requires us to intentionally choose what is best to get where we want to go in life and not letting the brain be in charge of telling us what will feel good in life.

The brain is a gas pedal machine. It is go go go.

But we all own brakes. All of us do. And sometimes we need to tap them. Or lock them up.

Lock them up and come to a complete stop and ask, is this the very best thing I could be doing right now?