Honey Badger

                                                

                      "A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes."

                                                                            ~Mahatma Ghandi

 The NFL Network had a program on that featured Deion Sanders interviewing Tyrann Mathieu (a.k.a. Honey Badger). Sanders asked Mathieu some very interesting questions regarding his alter ego.

Sanders: “So, who is the Honey Badger?”

Mathieu: “The Honey Badger is that man on the field. He’s wild. He’s flying around hitting people.”

Sanders: “What about off the field?”

Mathieu: “Man…he’s that guy wanting to go to the clubs…hanging out with the ladies…driving fine cars.

Sanders: So who’s Tyrann?

Mathieu: Tyrann is quite…laid back. Tyrann is the guy that tells the Honey Badger no, I don’t need to go out to the club…but the Honey Badger says, come on, let’s go.”

Does this conflict sound familiar?

Just like Tyrann, we all have an ongoing conversation among the different areas in our brain, each competing to control the single output of our behavior. As a result, we can accomplish these strange feats of arguing with ourselves, cursing at ourselves, and cajoling yourself to do something that we should or should not do.
We can easily see this when it comes to food…

When the waitress at a restaurant offers chocolate cake, you find yourself on the edge of a dilemma…certain parts of your brain have evolved to crave the rich energy source of sugar, and the other parts care about the negative consequences, such as the health of your heart or the bulge of your butt.

Part of you (Honey Badger) wants to eat the cake, and part of you (Tyrann) tries to muster the discipline to forgo it. The final vote “to eat, or not to eat” determines which area of your brain controls your actions…that is, whether you put your hand out or up. In the end, you either eat the chocolate cake or you do not, but you cannot do both.

The Honey Badger is never gone.

Tyrann went on the say that the Honey Badger is gone…he’s no longer a part of him.

Make no mistake about it… The Honey Badger (a.k.a. Limbic area) is a part of all of us…it’s never gone.

The Honey Badger is our will…our drive…our desires. Ironically it brings the most pleasure, and unfortunately provides the most pain.

Tyrann is the executive director of our behavior…making decisions that are in our best interest.

Who’s in control in your life?

Honey Badger?

Tyrann?

 

“Some pleasures are not worth having because they lead to greater pains, and some pains are worthwhile when they lead to greater pleasures. The best strategy for attaining a maximal amount of pleasure overall is not to seek instant gratification but to work out a sensible long term policy”

                                                                                    ~Epicurus