Roadside Attractions

I'm starting to uncover a pattern, and it goes like this:

You can/should do _____ now, because you will offset it with _____ later on.

Almost always, this is a fat, fucking lie.

Go ahead and finish the bag of gummy worms and then have a popsicle . You'll bike home from work tomorrow.

Lie.

You can skip working out this morning -- you'll just do some pushups when you get home.

Lie.

Sure, go ahead and get high first thing in the morning. Just have some coffee before you go out and you'll be fiiiiine.

Total lie.

I wonder if my Christian upbringing is creeping in around the edges here. My brain has a clear habit of trafficking in "future rewards rather than in present realities" (Tom Robbins), and if that isn't the hallmark of Western religion, I don't know what is.