Sunday Night With John: Taco Bell and Not Ashamed Of It!
/After two weeks of not eating anything other then applesauce, soup, oatmeal, pudding, and milkshakes I was eagerly awaiting the Doctor to give me the ok to eat solid food. I did manage to drop 12 pounds in a two-week span but I was completely prepared to put 6 pounds back on this weekend. I had planned on going to lunch on Friday and heading right to Taco Bell and getting a chicken quesadilla with a soft shell taco. I might have even pushed it and had a mountain dew, a drink I gave up 3 years ago because pop is so unbelievably bad for you. Work got busy and I couldn’t take my lunch so I had to settle for Asian flavored boneless wings from the Vine in Iowa City, and that by no means is second prize. Their Asian garlic and Teriyaki Bourbon wings are delish! With the help of some friends we downed 48 wings, a basket of fries, and an order of cheese balls. If you have read earlier posts you knew cheese balls were appearing in that order. It was heaven and I could have eaten more but decided against being sick the next day from over eating.
The thing is, when it comes up in conversation about food we cannot give up, Taco Bell is number one on my list. Look, I know it’s bad for me, I know it’s not authentic Mexican, I get that they may not use the best meat, and trust me there have been times I have paid dearly for eating Taco Bell with an afternoon in the bathroom (probably TMI). I will always eat Taco Bell, and I will never be ashamed of it. Nor do I think I should. We all have those pleasures that we know are bad for us that we give into once in a while. Whether it’s a glass of wine, a certain candy bar, or cookie, a certain fast food joint, a skipped work out here and there, or a video game/TV show binge. If I ate Taco Bell every day it would a be a huge problem but once a month, okay twice a month who cares.
We only get so many days to be alive to not allow ourselves to have moments of joy. Restricting everything just to postpone our demise makes no sense to me. I want to live a long healthy life with many great moments. A long life avoiding the things we enjoy consuming, or enjoy doing means just a long empty life. My Taco Bell fix started with my dad ordering me cinnamon twists and bringing them home for me. It expanded with a good friend Scotty from college on the afternoons after late nights. We didn’t wake up until lunch time. It propelled long video games sessions with my two best friends because we could get so much food for twenty dollars, and Taco Bell did create the fourth meal.
When I studied Philosophy and Religion in Collage, I took a course on Buddhism and in the Buddhist texts it has passages about experience life through the tenet of “Everything in moderation” and “Live in a way that you find peace and balance in your life”. Or, “Don’t lean to far one way or the other.” That lesson carried me through a number of other religious and philosophy courses and every major religion and thinker in the history taught that point in one way or another.
I know not to eat Taco Bell every day or eat Cereal for every meal. The latter habit took me longer to learn than the Taco Bell lesson. For those of you who need a little nudge to let go of that anxiety around enjoy those things that make you feel ashamed, please remember if you enjoy a glass of wine, Jesus turned water into wine to celebrate a wedding, just be responsible while partaking with alcoholic drinks. If your poison is chocolate, some chocolate has antioxidants, which are great for your body, but we all know too much chocolate goes to our hips. If your fix is binge watching TV, most religions practice a day of rest, I could go on all day... All I know is that we shouldn’t be ashamed of enjoying life a little if it’s a balanced healthy life where others aren’t being hurt. I wear my Taco Bell badge loud and proud, I hope you wear your pleasure badge loud as well.
If you like today’s blog please comment what your pleasure is, I would love to see what came to mind while reading this for everyone