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Friday, July 18, 2025

Rewards?

Just as tasty as these scones
My chocolate scones? Let's just say they were here one minute, the next, scone!

Understanding this joke depends on whether you rhyme scone with Gone Girl or Game of Thrones. Either way, delish, also compelling entertainment. (Isn't it the worst when someone explains a joke? Sorry.)

Do you ever make something SO TASTY, you are tempted to immediately snarf it all down your gullet? If so, relatable. Humble brag newsflash however: I did not eat them all, nor did I even taste one before I shared them. Yes indeed, I'm a hero. Or maybe it's just progress? Or is it something else? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I mention this because my latest scones have me pondering short and long term rewards/goals. 

Let's be honest: I HEART SHORT TERM REWARDS, but I know the marshmallow test has proved that those who can resist quick temptation (1 out of 3) have better long-term psychological, health, even professional outcomes. Or that's what we've been told...hmm...maybe this experiment is just another conspiracy orchestrated by Obama and Hillary Clinton? *rolls eyes*

I jest; my aim is not to undermine this experiment's key role in extending our collective understanding about deferred gratification and success, but let's be honest: if I had been one of the original marshmallow test children, I WOULD HAVE FAILED IMMEDIATELY (maybe even made s'mores). 

Why you ask? Because at any moment my much older brothers could have burst into that two-way-mirrored room, threatened violence, and SNATCHED my marshmallows, then slowly and dramatically eaten them in my face (without consequences) like every other day of my childhood. Again, I jest (kinda), but culturally, what if you were a deprived, neglected, or anxious child? I suspect a few others can relate? (I'm talking to you kids whose youth was more Stranger Things than Bluey.) 

Hmm, now I'm imagining the adult versions of those long-ago (1972) well-adjusted gratification deferer-ers aka kids with matching socks. I bet they all work for Big Pharma Long Term Reward Ltd., or some other nefarious corporation filled with superiority-complex, pearl-clutchers...er, never mind: given the current state of politics, I retract this statement unequivocally. Please PLEASE please OUT with the glut of ME FIRST ME NOW ME FOREVER leaders addled by unrelenting vainglory. 

Sigh, I digress. Here's my point: perhaps some instant gratification is less pathology, and more (just enough) self-care. With that and happiness in mind, here are some short term rewards I'm currently indulging:

14 comments:

Kate said...

Good Mornin', neighbour! I have cut down my smoking habit -- never heavy to start with -- by delaying my one puff till noon for a week, then one o'clock, two, and so on until six o'clock. Sometime after that, I have one lonely puff. Upon rare occasions, I might take one more, later. It has worked a charm. I can't say it was never a struggle to delay gratification by increments, but it has shown me an effective way to make changes. I want those potato chips? Fine, but delay for 30 seconds or a minute and before I know it I'm busy elsewhere and have forgotten them. This works for avoiding sweets and other shit I want to minimize. Even my phone: don't look at it before half an hour or an hour after waking, and the tether begins to loosen.

Not quite what you were talking about, but somewhat related.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Like everything else in life, there needs to be balance between immediate gratification and deferred gratification. Both are good and both are needed. Matching them appropriately to short- and long-term goals is key.

Midwest Mark said...

Here one minute, THRONE the next for me! (Scones are a guilty pleasure for me.)

Anonymous said...

Codex: Adulting is hard at any age.

There is so much here that I understand and yet where do we begin to unravel this global mess?
Similar thoughts in draft for years that have been accummulating.
Predictive psyche tests? Hahahaha...
I'll be back. My venting valve has been opened. (That sounded so weird that I left it).

DB Stewart said...

Good morning, neighbour. No, this is quite what I was talking about. I am putting your word tether into my journey too. Insert fist bump here.

DB Stewart said...

Well said.

DB Stewart said...

Imagine Ga me of Thrones Scones...the Starks probably made them with wolf milk while Cersie used the tears of her enemies.

DB Stewart said...

Weird AND accurate, ha.

Linda's Relaxing Lair said...

It looks delicious! Warm greetings from Montreal!

Bill said...

Never had a chocolate scone. My favourite is plain with raisins.

Amy said...

I regularly bake but I've never made a chocolate scone, maybe I will give it a go.

Kathy G said...

Those scones wouldn't have stood a chance if I was around :-)

Anvilcloud said...

That is pretty deep on my early Saturday.morning, but it is why I have been too heavy for too long. Flat caps are where it’s at though. I won’t wear ball caps, but I will sometimes where Tilly’s or more fedora-like hats.

Tom said...

...they were here one minute, the next, scone! Clever!!!