So many foods taste so good.
I will never forget the first time I woke up to indigestion after a night of Tex-Mex delicacies. I was in my mid-twenties and was struck not just by the icky feeling in my stomach, but by the realization that my stalwart digestion may have been a hallmark of youth, and that my youth was not going to last forever.
Little did I know how crazy my digestion would get, with a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease five years or so off in the future. Now, when my stomach is bothering me, every food decision is suspect, and I’m constantly trying to figure out which foods make me feel good (or make me feel bad).
Lots of foods taste good. They don’t all make me feel good.
This weekend we celebrated the first Patriots game with snacks and beverage at a local watering hole. I ordered nachos with a peculiar mix of excitement and fear. I was quite certain they were going to taste good, but I wasn’t sure they would make me feel good.
can you see the attraction? Photo credit to my sweetheart, who also ate the chicken tenders.
They tasted great, and for once in my life I had enough self control to stop before I had too many. It seems unfair, wouldn’t you say, that the things that taste good don’t always make us feel good?
I’d say that most of the media we consume offers us things that taste good, but leave us feeling empty or nauseated in the long run. Casual sexuality is the most glaring of these examples, images of which make us hunger for things that won’t nourish us.
The sweet taste that tempts me is revenge. This is certainly glorified in our culture, even though I have never found any lasting satisfaction in it. I am always tempted to “make people pay” or “teach them a lesson”, and I always, without fail, end up feeling bad about it. It doesn’t help that I have a quick tongue and that my jibes can be too clever for anyone’s good. Not only do I lust after getting back at people, I’m also good at it.
So we spend our lives listening to our hearts and our bodies, finding out what tastes good but feels bad, and what fills us with long lasting satisfaction.
What do you expect to be delicious but leaves you feeling empty?
Felice mi fa 