Poverty is a real thing. There are so many people who don’t have clean water, a roof over their heads, or enough to eat.
I am not one of those people. Sometimes, though, I act like I am.
Sometimes, I act like I have to gorge myself, as if I don’t know when my next meal will be. The truth, though, is that I have never not known when my next meal will be or where it will come from. I usually even have the luxury of changing my mind – of having choices.
Sometimes, I don’t leave myself time to cook, or I don’t plan ahead, and I tell myself that I don’t have time to make good choices. But “having time” and “making time” are different things, and the truth is that I have all the time I need to do what is important to me.
Sometimes, I live with a poverty mentality, even though poverty is not my reality. I live as though there’s never enough – not enough food or enough money or enough time. As a result, I hoard and gorge. I overeat, just in case my next meal comes a few hours after I expect that it will. I overspend on groceries, thinking I might use that one thing in that one recipe someday, and someday might be next weekend – you know, if I’m not too busy – and if I wait, I might have already spent that money on something else that I might need someday soon. I don’ t make meals – including the preparation and clean-up time – a part of my schedule, and then I get frustrated and stressed out when my schedule fills up and I have no time left for it, and it surprises me every time.
This weekend was a weekend of plenty. More importantly, it was a weekend of reminding myself that I have plenty. I was intentional and spent less than twenty dollars on groceries for the weekend, ate real food, and even had leftovers.
It wasn’t hard. It just took a little planning and a quick trip to the store, a process that took less than an hour to complete.
My goal this week is twofold:
1) to cook one meal a day, making enough for that meal and at least one serving of leftovers for lunch.
2) to reorganize my budget, my schedule, and my priorities.
Themes, Observations, and Lessons:
– Homemade french fries kick ass.
– If one feeds a dog a tiny little piece of popcorn from one’s hand during a moment of weakness on Friday night, said dog will hover near one and breathe her atrocious, moist dog breath on one’s arm every time one has anything food-related, and while this is SUPER annoying, one can’t really get mad, because it’s one’s own fault. Dogs learn what they live, and what she lived is that I am weak and that puppy-dog-eyes get her popcorn.
– Scandal is a good show, but if you like wine, make sure that you have a nice red before you watch it, because watching it will make you want wine badly enough to put your shoes back on and go back to the store if you don’t happen to have any at home. Maybe don’t watch Scandal if you’re a recovering alcoholic.
M. Suzanne Terry 
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