Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I'll have the gumbo with a side of joy please...

Mama's Losin' It


WRITER'S WORKSHOP PROMPT:
Lesson learned...

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I recently learned a valuable lesson from a well known financial guru who said, "Once you make the decision to spend money on something you better enjoy it. If you don't find joy in what you decide to do then the money is wasted."

"Hello..." I answered back (to myself). Of course, it's about the joy. Life is all about living, loving, experiencing and finding joy {in a responsible manner of course :) }

So when Rick and I went away for our anniversary over the weekend and dined at a yummy restaurant where we may have ordered 3 different appetizers (we just had to try all of them) and some fabulous entrées (that came with bread and salad mind you) and I became very full midway through my fabulous entrée and began to attempt to finish all of it... because that's what you do when you spend a lot of money on an entrée at a restaurant (and can't take it home because you're not going home) you force yourself to finish it so you don't waste your money or your food... I suddenly stopped eating and said, "Wait a minute. This isn't about the food, it's about the joy."

We had gone out to that restaurant that night--deciding to spend a chunk of our hard earned change--to be alone together and to ENJOY one another and when I realized that I had accomplished that objective, the guilt for not "finishing my plate" or "getting the full value" was gone. I had spent my money on joy and my joy (along with my belly) was full.

So I set down my fork, sat back in my seat, and enjoyed the rest of my evening with my amazing husband (and no stomach ache).

Fabulous.

What a wonderful lesson learned.


4 comments:

Bruna said...

Good for you! I often do the same at restaurants, especially more expensive ones. Actually, I do it at home too because I don't want to waste food. I suffer afterwards though when my stomach aches and I feel bloated. ha ha...

Unknown said...

Great post! I know I feel guilty if I waste food, and I feel sick if I finish it. Thanks for the reminder that it's not about the food!

Visting from Mama Kat's.

Anonymous said...

I wish I had read this before we ate at Golden Correl last week. I was miserable...MISERABLE!!!! from trying to eat some of everything. And there is a lot of everything to choose from, as you know. It will be a long time before I'll want to go back. The the joy was forgotten by the pain I was feeling...sigh! MOM

Stef said...

Nice. Isn't it always better when we can step back and say, "What am I doing?" Like me tonight. I filled my bowl full of chips and then said to myself, "What am I doing? I may as well throw Zumba out the window."