Excuses, excuses...

[Taomeow]

Tell me I'm not the only one.  

 

Please tell me life tests your resolutions in a way as creative and unexpected and sneaky and cunning as it tests mine.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who's prepared for those smooth, sly moves of the celestial exam commission (or whoever is behind those surprise tests of willpower) only half the time, at best.

 

New year's resolution:  Stay gluten free 100%, keep it up for 8 months, see what happens.  

 

Reality:  Two months into that, I'm so proud of myself.  Nothing can shake my resolve.  In the meantime, someone goes to France, brings back a gift -- a tin of foie gras and, to go with it, a bag of Italian bruschetta toasts.  The latter taking the piss out of anything gluten free, of course.  The gift is not for me, so, no worries, right? 

Wrong.  The recipient of the gift

a] being Chinese, can't turn it down because it would be impolite and insensitive, but unbeknown to the gifter absolutely refuses to eat unfamiliar European foods, and b] is about to ask me for a small favor, and to give something in return right away seems to be the cultural norm, at least for this person.   So he gives the tin and the bag to me.  It is my cultural norm not to turn it down.  

 

I am bonkers about foie gras, which I think I only had twice before -- in general I have this unfortunate trait, I am crazy about foods not just me but no one outside the wealthiest 1% can afford, I've never met a luxury food Item I didn't like.   So, I'm writing this while fishing out the last Bruschetta crumbs from the bag, the tin has been emptied in one fell swoop, and my gluten free countdown will have to be reset tomorrow.  Two months of being true to my own resolution all for nothing.

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one to whom things of this sort happen.

[Kar3n]

You are not the only one.

 

I've gained 4 pounds in a month, committed to losing it and there is butter pecan ice cream in the freezer. 

 

Was it as divine as it sounds?

[Lost in Translation]

Always install a safety valve. Resolve to be gluten free except on the last Sunday of the month, etc. You know you'll break down so build it into the design. 😁

[Taomeow]

1 hour ago, Kar3n said:

You are not the only one.

 

I've gained 4 pounds in a month, committed to losing it and there is butter pecan ice cream in the freezer. 

 

Was it as divine as it sounds?

 

I also always go for butter pecan -- Haagen-Dazs. 

 

And, yes, that meal was absolutely divine.  

[Taomeow]

54 minutes ago, Lost in Translation said:

Always install a safety valve. Resolve to be gluten free except on the last Sunday of the month, etc. You know you'll break down so build it into the design. 😁

 

I usually do, but the resolution about gluten was specifically to go 100%, since it is capable of provoking an immune conflict whose effects last for up to 8 months after one ingestion (in those for whom it's relevant, which is usually hard to find out except in the most obvious symptomatic cases that constitute a small percentage of the overall affected population.)  I've experimented like that many times to figure out which foods do what in my body.  I did a 100% vegetarian year, e.g., 9 months on paleo in ketosis, and so on.  Many of my dietary choices are the outcome of such testing over the years.  So I would be shooting myself in the foot in this case...  and did. 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Taomeow

[Seatle185]

It seems to me, with resolutions (especially relating to food?) It is always easy to stick to it, but it is always a  friend or family member that ends up urging me to break it :/  haha

[Lost in Translation]

53 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

So I would be shooting myself in the foot in this case...  and did. 

 

In that case I hope they were good biscuits and foie gras.

[Nungali]

18 hours ago, Taomeow said:

Tell me I'm not the only one.  

 

Please tell me life tests your resolutions in a way as creative and unexpected and sneaky and cunning as it tests mine.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who's prepared for those smooth, sly moves of the celestial exam commission (or whoever is behind those surprise tests of willpower) only half the time, at best.

 

New year's resolution:  Stay gluten free 100%, keep it up for 8 months, see what happens.  

 

Reality:  Two months into that, I'm so proud of myself.  Nothing can shake my resolve.  In the meantime, someone goes to France, brings back a gift -- a tin of foie gras and, to go with it, a bag of Italian bruschetta toasts.  The latter taking the piss out of anything gluten free, of course.  The gift is not for me, so, no worries, right? 

Wrong.  The recipient of the gift

a] being Chinese, can't turn it down because it would be impolite and insensitive, but unbeknown to the gifter absolutely refuses to eat unfamiliar European foods, and b] is about to ask me for a small favor, and to give something in return right away seems to be the cultural norm, at least for this person.   So he gives the tin and the bag to me.  It is my cultural norm not to turn it down.  

 

I am bonkers about foie gras, which I think I only had twice before -- in general I have this unfortunate trait, I am crazy about foods not just me but no one outside the wealthiest 1% can afford, I've never met a luxury food Item I didn't like.   So, I'm writing this while fishing out the last Bruschetta crumbs from the bag, the tin has been emptied in one fell swoop, and my gluten free countdown will have to be reset tomorrow.  Two months of being true to my own resolution all for nothing.

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one to whom things of this sort happen.

 

Well .... it not just the  celestial exam commission  ;

 

 

here kitty  kitty  kitty

 

 

 

 

[Nungali]

... and Easter is just around the corner  ... with its Fabergé  jewel encrusted hot-cross buns   

[Taomeow]

36 minutes ago, Nungali said:

 

Well .... it not just the  celestial exam commission  ;

 

 

here kitty  kitty  kitty

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, you are too kind.  I'll take three of red and six of black, please, unless you are also serving Almas from the albino beluga and it is properly packaged in a can of pure gold -- if you do, throw in a couple of those too.

 

And for the main course, since we're on the Russian theme, I'll take those light-emitting pelmeni, you know, the ones they stuff with a mix of elk, veal, pork and the bioluminescent glands of the torch fish, they look very pretty when they glow with this otherworldly blue-green light on your plate, and once you've eaten them, you can distinctly feel inner illumination, which some call enlightenment, and even though they are $2000 per serving, many people spend a lot more than that on various gurus who essentially promise the same thing.

[joeblast]

Silly Wabbit, New Year's resolutions simply work better if they are begun on Chinese New Year's, instead of Jan 1, where one is encouraged to break the resolutions right away  

 

Not that it would have saved you in this case, but.....well, timing   Was its beginning auspicious, or arbitrary?  What was the feng shui of this endeavor?

[Taomeow]

3 minutes ago, joeblast said:

Silly Wabbit, New Year's resolutions simply work better if they are begun on Chinese New Year's, instead of Jan 1, where one is encouraged to break the resolutions right away  

 

Not that it would have saved you in this case, but.....well, timing   Was its beginning auspicious, or arbitrary?  What was the feng shui of this endeavor?

 

Yup, I'm starting a better countdown today, the last day of Chinese New Year's celebration.  The moon has been steadily growing up to this point, so any "decrease" endeavors were bound to be compromised, but now it will start waning, thereby shining on them.  All fasts, cleanses, decreasing/minimizing endeavors (whether internal or external) are most effective starting now, and should be completed by the end of spring.  

 

[liminal_luke]

Taomeow,

 

Let me be the first to assure you that almost nobody resolves not to eat gluten for eight months and then proceeds to happily do so without a hitch.  I probably have a biased view, but you strike me as someone who regularly does extraordinary things and hangs out with people who regularly do extraordinary things.  Your meditation teacher is likely the greatest living Taoist master alive today; your Tai Ji teacher a lineage holder. With this kind of company, it`s easy to forget that most of us require temptations far less potent than imported French foie gras and Italian bruschetta to slip off our diets.

 

LL  

[七星門]

I try not to beat myself up too much. If I fall back on old patterns I try to focus on the entire journey rather than dwell on a [gluten-laden] way station. If I had gone from eating gluten everyday to now once every two months, that's progress. Maybe now I make it a full eight, but in three month's time I indulge again, but that's still progress. So long as I keep moving towards the goal, I'll eventually succeed. 

[Taomeow]

LL, thank you.  

 

18 minutes ago, 七星門 said:

I try not to beat myself up too much. If I fall back on old patterns I try to focus on the entire journey rather than dwell on a [gluten-laden] way station. If I had gone from eating gluten everyday to now once every two months, that's progress. Maybe now I make it a full eight, but in three month's time I indulge again, but that's still progress. So long as I keep moving towards the goal, I'll eventually succeed. 

 

I have succeeded in the past by anticipating the temptations, maintaining a mental database of situations where they might arise.  I want to learn how to handle the ones I didn't anticipate.   I.e. how to conquer the unknown.  Most of the time, I just surrender to it -- not in dietary terms, in terms of whatever.  Some might call it spontaneity, "living in the moment," others might view it as lack of self-discipline.  I'm somewhere in between I guess.  But as a cultivator, I try to emphasize/replenish what's deficient rather than encourage what's excessive -- spontaneity I don't lack, born this way, while self-discipline is a learned skill, an uphill battle, a gongfu challenge...     

 

[zerostao]

I look at those unexpected moments when, there she is, temptation herself in her various forms arrives unannounced as golden opportunities. Occasionally, I strike the gold.

It is a confidence builder like no other.

Edited March 2, 2018 by zerostao

[Taomeow]

49 minutes ago, zerostao said:

I look at those unexpected moments when, there she is, temptation herself in her various forms arrives unannounced as golden opportunities. Occasionally, I strike the gold.

It is a confidence builder like no other.

 

Really?  A golden opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot is a confidence builder?

 

I wish I had your confidence.  

[thelerner]

Sometimes, the Universe isn't trapping you, its giving a gift. 

that's one fortune cookie in my bag of excuses anyway.

 

[zerostao]

58 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

 

Really?  A golden opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot is a confidence builder?

 

I wish I had your confidence.  

I think it was Oscar Wilde that said: "I can resist everything except temptation." And I used to be like that, even when I knew beyond all doubt, that I was making a terrible choice. Then one day I resisted temptation and felt empowered. I don't want to get cliche and go Sun Tzu, but conquering oneself is a milestone. Over time with small, infrequent successes I began having more frequent success and with those experiences my confidence built. Do I still strike out sometimes? Yes, I do, but I have a much higher success rate these days. I am no less spontaneous either. I liked your reference to gongfu; I see it that way myself.

[子泰]

Next time your friend brings you food that you've resolved not to eat, please kindly direct friend towards me.

Edited March 3, 2018 by 子泰

[CloudHands]

9

Edited April 15, 2018 by CloudHands

[Aetherous]

Aw darn, the Celestial Exam Commission wins again!

[Taomeow]

CH, I know how everything is done in modern agriculture. 

 

I have always maintained that people who choose to be oblivious to the extinction of hundreds of thousands of whole species of animals everywhere where intensive for-profit monoculture agriculture plants its lettuces and cucumbers, its apples and oranges, to say nothing of wheat and corn and soy which irreversibly kill by the billion, from microorganisms in the soil to insects to reptiles to rodents to large mammals to fishes in the rivers to birds in the sky, to say nothing of grasslands and forests steadily turned into ever-expanding fields of death, and think this is somehow superior to bad treatment of domesticated species, are voluntarily ignorant hypocrites.  To avoid being that they would have to either grow their own food or else starve to death to be consistent.   

 

Currently my circumstances don't allow the former and I choose against the latter.  But at least I don't eat hypocritically, unlike those who oh so morally choose to spare the cute and pettable animals while all the not-so-cute and not-so-pettable ones (too small to be noticed, or too predatory to be cute, or competing with us for food too successfully unless eliminated) can drop dead by the billion without the hypocrite batting an eyelid over his murderous tofu burger.  

Edited March 3, 2018 by Taomeow

[七星門]

14 hours ago, Taomeow said:

LL, thank you.  

 

 

I have succeeded in the past by anticipating the temptations, maintaining a mental database of situations where they might arise.  I want to learn how to handle the ones I didn't anticipate.   I.e. how to conquer the unknown.  Most of the time, I just surrender to it -- not in dietary terms, in terms of whatever.  Some might call it spontaneity, "living in the moment," others might view it as lack of self-discipline.  I'm somewhere in between I guess.  But as a cultivator, I try to emphasize/replenish what's deficient rather than encourage what's excessive -- spontaneity I don't lack, born this way, while self-discipline is a learned skill, an uphill battle, a gongfu challenge...     

 

It is a challenge, every day a test!

 

In those unexpected moments I try to connect deep inside to purpose. 

[CloudHands]

.

Edited April 15, 2018 by CloudHands