Deny yourself the thing you really want

I just ate pasta. Now I know, many many people these days have moved to the "no-carb" lifestyle, but I cannot do it. I enjoy food. I love cheesecake and rice krispy treats and pizza. I love to dine in restaurants--of all kinds. I refuse to see food as the enemy. So, tonight I ate pasta. Now, mind you I didn't eat like an entire box of pasta...not even half a box. But you see, I don't understand how we can be happy if we deny ourselves the things we really want.

If I want chocolate, I buy a three musketeers bar. If I want to sleep until noon...well, some things we just can't have. I have always been aware of my body...I don't have tiny bones or a high metabolism...I have, as far back as high school, always been a size 10. Sometimes I can wear an 8--always in dresses and occasionally in jeans. The only things about my body that I sometimes loathe are my thighs. They're huge. But they're muscular. So I guess it's a half-empty/half-full glass situation.

Getting back to my earlier point, how can we be happy if we deny ourselves the things we really want? I asked myself this years ago and once I had that "thing" not only was I unhappy, but so were many other people...I think a lot of it depends on what that "thing" is. If the "thing" you want is something that is going to eventually screw up your life, or the life of someone else, then you'll probably just have to learn to cope without it. But if what you really want is just one slice of Brooklyn-style pepperoni pizza, then I say take it, eat it, and enjoy every bit of it.

The important rule here, is to not overindulge. No matter what your "thing" is, you can have too much of it...and then, instead of being satisfied, you'll be annoyed and guilty. There is a thin line between having what we want, and gorging ourselves on what we want.

Me? I want...well I don't know what I want right now. I'd like another beer, but I just drank the last Saranac Lager, so I guess that's out of the question. Don't deny yourself what you really want. Take it, savor it, enjoy it.