Find the goodness

"Enjoy every sandwich,"  said Warren Zevon. I have this quote on my bulletin board in my studio. Remember this, I tell myself. I see it everyday. And he is so right. Take time to savour the little things. Taste the goodness. Be in the moment. 

But I sometimes forget.

What if you get a bad sandwich? What do you do then?

If the bread is squishy, and there is too much mayonnaise and the filling is not great.

So my daughter and I were talking about how we are when we have a bad lunch. How it makes us feel. What if you are on the road and you have to eat it even if it's not that great. Well, here is the thing about me and my daughter. When our lunch is bad we are sad. We are disappointed. Such a small thing. We should know better. But we feel like Santa left a lump of coal, and the easter bunny hopped right by our house. A bad lunch brings out the child in us.

We know it is no big deal to have a bad meal. But we build our days around food. We think about what we are going to eat when we get up in the morning. Sometimes we think about tomorrow's lunch before we go to bed at night, and a bad sandwich is never in our plans. Neither is soup that's too salty, or still-frozen French fries.

And sometimes it is the food we make ourselves that does not turn out well.

We crave, we cook, we eat good food. And yes, that is a privilege. And we know it. But still a bad lunch disappoints us. And the men in our lives wonder about this. What's the big deal, they think. Why let it ruin your day? Just move on quickly please. Please. 

And they are right. Those stupid little things, we should never let them annoy us. If only we were very very good and always at our best. Then we would enjoy every little thing all the time. Then we would enjoy every sandwich. But we are just as fallible as the groceries, as the bread, as the cook spreading on the mayo. And sometimes we get distracted by the quality of the bread, forgetting of course that we are lucky enough to have bread to begin with. 

Enjoy every sandwich.

Find the good in things, I say to myself each morning as I meet the day.

And I try. And I fail, but the good thing is I begin again.

Little things don't matter. Unless you are really hungry and it is lunch.

Enjoy everything.

As best you can, as well as you can.

Find the goodness. And move on.