DAY 78 - CHOCOLATE MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER

Sometimes you just have one of “those” days. You know the type: you get pulled over on the way to work, there’s an accident in the lane right next to you, you forget your lunch, overdraw your checking account, …. You know, one of “those” days. And there’s only one solution for it:  CHOCOLATE!

    And it’s certainly nothing new for me either. One of my oldest friends recently asked me if I still craved chocolate – I gave her one of those looks, because that was just such a silly question. She remembered a time back when we were in high school that I was DYING for chocolate, and since her mom was a Diabetic there was always something around. I unwrapped a lovely Lindt Chocolate, popped it into my mouth, and chomped down – and promptly started running through the house, leaping over the people in my way. As I got to the bathroom and started spitting it out, Steph realized that she had just handed me a Liqueur Ball – Rum-filled Chocolate. It didn’t turn me off of chocolate, but it did cause me to carefully ready Lindt labels ever since.

   On the way home from work tonight, I stopped to grab some dinner. Nothing else sounded good, so I just grabbed some chocolate. I couldn’t decide just what type of chocolate I wanted – so I grabbed an assortment. I mean, I really wanted ice cream, so I grabbed some Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food (my second favorite only to Haagen Dazs Frozen Mexican Hot Chocolate). But it’s such a cold evening Hot Chocolate sounded great too – and what’s Hot Chocolate without Whipped Cream on top?

   So, that was dinner: Phish food (because fish is a health food) WITH Hot Chocolate (because the cream on top almost makes it like a soup). And since Cocoa is a bean, and beans are vegetables – it’s almost like a salad. Healthy? Maybe not – but just what I needed.

   I know that there are studies about the chemicals in chocolate that mimic . . . .  blah, blah, blah. I just know that there are times that Chocolate is the Answer – and it doesn’t even matter what the question is. Maybe it’s just pampering and indulging myself after a long day. Maybe it’s the Sweet Tooth I inherited from Mom (and BOY did she have a sweet tooth!) Maybe it’s giving myself permission to cry and feel sorry for myself for all the crappy cards life has dealt me – but only for tonight, and tomorrow I will pull it all together and face the world again.

   Honestly, “those” days are bound to happen – and that’s OK. They’re certainly tougher to face alone, and there are certainly worse ways to deal with them than chocolate. And I’m entitled to a bad day once-in-a-while – and I’d say 1-day-out-of-83 is pretty damn good odds. Today certainly isn’t the worst day I’ve faced this year. And it’s likely to not be my only bad day.

   But it’s just that: a bad day – one bad day. It’s not a bad life – because I really do have a pretty terrific life. And today certainly could have gone a lot worse. I have faith that tomorrow will be better, and because I believe that it will then it will.

   Because although chocolate fixed things for me this evening, I have learned that optimism is what fixes life. I refuse to let the trials of my life define me, but rather I am defined by the person I choose to be and the way I choose to live my life. And there is nothing sweeter than that – not even chocolate.