My Mind Has a Mind of Its Own

I should have cleaned my bathroom last Saturday, but I was absolutely positive that I had no toilet bowl cleaner in my house, so I didn't. After all, if you can't clean your toilet, what's the point of cleaning the rest of the room? Then I went shopping Monday night, and when I came home I had one of those "Dang it!" moments when I realize I've forgotten something I really should have remembered (which almost always happens when I get home from the store, by the way, and I even shop with a list). I had forgotten to buy toilet bowl cleaner. Imagine my surprise when I opened the cupboard to put something else away and there was a full bottle of the stuff sitting there looking at me. I guess I just wanted to avoid cleaning the bathroom so much that my brain convinced itself to forget my earlier trip to the store.

I thought that was quite tricky—and quite helpful—of my brain, especially since it also conveniently remembered not to remind me to get more. Now if only I could convince my brain to convince itself that carrots are a better late-night snack than milkshakes or that getting up early is much more enjoyable than staying up late. But something tells me that's not going to work as well.