In It for the Short Term

My wife and I have a small cabin that's been in her family for the past 50 years.  In the village where the cabin is located there a currently a number of cabins for sale.  (One is pictured here.)  There is definitely a pattern in cottagers I've noticed over the years.  People buy a cabin and they are so excited by the new adventures and opportunities they see in their new purchase.  They have wonderful dreams of family times and development projects.  The first year they are at the cabin every opportunity they get and they are busy renovating and making the place their own.  The second season again sees a flurry of activity at their cabin.  Come season three there is usually a significant decline in both attendance and projects as the reality of both how time consuming, costly and labour intensive a cabin can be sets in.  After that many cabins are either used sparingly or go up for sale again.  The cost to reward ratio becomes too great in the minds of many cabin owners.

This phenomenon reminds me so much of what I see in people who embark on changing their lifestyle to either exercise more or improve their diet.  They start out gung ho on their new diet or exercise program with great dreams of being healthy.  Once they realize how much work is involved in changing their lifestyle they abandon the changes that held such promise for them.  It takes emotional effort to make and stick with healthy lifestyle changes.  Time must be committed to exercise and good food preparation.  Maintaining a healthy lifestyle when those around you and most of society drift toward ill health can be a challenge.  Unfortunately, short attention spans and short term goals seem to be an ever increasing norm in our society.  Too often people never stick with one thing long enough to see the true value in it.

To enjoy a cabin for the long term a person has to have a clear goal of what the retreat will be for them over time.  They have to count the costs not only in dollars, but also in time, physical and emotional terms.  The rewards have to out weigh the costs or the dream will be abandoned.

It is the same with making lifestyle changes.  The rewards of improved health, weight loss, etc. have to be worth the financial, emotional, and physical costs.  Long lasting results will never be obtained by making short term goals or by making goals that do not have a big enough reward to make the effort worth while.  A committment level needs to be established that will sustain a person through the tough times that will inevitably come.

My wife and I have enjoyed our cabin for many years and plan to enjoy it for a long time to come.  We also realize that the ability to continue to have pleasurable cottage experiences we need to be prepared to pay the costs in time, money, energy and emotions.  Likewise anyone wanting to experience long term good health must be prepared to pay the costs.  It is worth the effort.