Moving Forward Checklist
Bill’s January Tip: Sticky and Sweet
I’ve had a lifelong wrestling match with sugar consumption – to the point where pastry avoidance has (once again) made my list of New Year’s resolutions.
My mother, on the other hand, embraces sugar; preferring to see confection as an expression of love instead of a lurking obsession. So, it was not surprising when mom served her homemade sticky buns as a part of our Christmas breakfast get-together.
As she proudly delivered these rolls from her warm oven to the brightly colored table, my pulse quickened and my taste-buds danced: I knew mom’s sweet treat was a final opportunity to indulge before beginning my annual sugar detox.
Receiving my plate, I immediately pounced on my portion, my fingers ripping apart the gooey ribbons of cinnamon pastry – the use of fork and knife would have taken too long….
Eating sticky buns the way I do “sticks” with you: sugary residue stubbornly coats the hands despite all the finger-licking attempts to extract every last molecule of flavor.
My impulsiveness proved increasingly consequential as my sugar-prints transferred to everything I touched: napkins and utensils became fly-strip sticky, and encumbered the enjoyment of ingesting the rest of my meal. The only solution was a soapy one: throwing my hands in the air, I excused myself and headed toward the washbasin.
Food for Thought
One can view life as a huge symbolic cinnamon roll. Please take this moment to review and digest 2014 by contemplating the following:
- Did you methodically chew through last year’s moments, minutes, and months by purposefully sticking to a healthy plan of action?
- Have you nurtured emotional balance with a well-rounded diet of learning, socializing, exercising, and charitable contribution?
- Were experiences sweetened through a decision to be consciously kind last year?
- Did impulsiveness ever devour your sensibilities, creating “sticky situations” in 2014?
- Have you effectively washed your hands of any hurt or humiliation experienced or are you self-consciously dragging last year’s defeats into 2015?
- Are you using lessons learned to grow emotionally bigger and stronger?
- How can these discoveries inform and empower your decisions going forward?
May this new year not be a “wipe the slate clean” way of beginning again, rather let’s use 2015 to build on the foundational learning of years past: Let’s clean the emotional residue from our fingers, while realizing the dexterity both our successes and failures have granted us.
I wish you the kind of wisdom that comes from the accumulation of all you’ve experienced: Let’s re-portion our lives, as needed, to savor life’s flavorful moments: Both sticky and sweet.