I went to eat at a restaurant with a five course meal. Now for those of you who have not done this before…let me just say, it is incredible. The chef will prepare a fixed meal and will bring out five different dishes with five different wine pairings that are meant to go with that dish. Now, keep in mind that it’s five different dishes and so they only really bring you a spoonful or fork full of the stuff. For those of you who don’t know me…know that I am a huge eater- I have the waistline to prove it. Ha! I have never really considered myself the type of eater that needs to have it slowly doled out to me.
But hey, here I was. I was only given a little bit to try before being given a new dish. My feelings about it? It was incredible! Loved it! The problem was that after each tasting course, I couldn’t help but want more of that same course…in fact, I wanted an entire plate of that one thing not really caring that I still had 2, 3, or 4 more plates to go. Each bite…each pairing…each new flavor was greater than the last. I didn’t want to move on in my meal…I wanted to jump over the counter and start to shove every bit of everyone elses serving of that dish. So good! Can you guess where I’m going here?
Of course, living the psych!sense life that I do, I started to reflect. I couldn’t help but think about how so many people miss out on the better flavors of their life because they were afraid to let go of what or where they just came from. This can be good or bad stuff. Some sort of trauma or strong stressor hurts or bothers them and they find themselves unable to move forward and live life. Even the good stuff! It's hard to find that perfect partner and love everything about them...only to then try and please, constantly attend and give up parts of yourself that you don't want to...in order to keep them.
Being stuck on one event or thing is like walking into a museum, looking at the first piece of art and refusing to explore the rest of them and the museum. There are so many more events, memories, and more magic in your life to be had that just having that one small dish, looking and getting stuck on that first painting, holding onto that pain, trauma or even good feeling, cheats you out of the whole meal.
Don't stay on the appetizer. Don't stop yourself from walking through the whole museum. Stretch and push on. No "one" dish I had is the "best" of them all. It is only through having the complete meal is when I can feel truly satisfied. The spicy of my meal. The sweet of it. The creamy of it. The rocky of it. The smooth of it. The ______ of it. All those parts made it the better. Made it whole. Make it complete. Make it just like life because life will be harsh and smooth, creamy and spicy, rocky and sweet.
Don't stop eating. Don't stop living.
Your life is a beautiful medley of the greatest flavors anyone has ever had...and you are the one who gets to taste it.