Oftentimes, I find myself at home for lunch. Sometimes the
matter of what to have for lunch is a no brainer. I'll have leftovers from the
night before. It's already been planned. I'll
have this for lunch tomorrow I’ll think while eating dinner.
Then there are the other times.
I have no prepared leftovers. But there are a myriad of
other healthy options. I could make tuna salad or egg salad. I could have a ham
sandwich. I could make a cheese omelet with feta or cheddar. I could have a
tossed green salad inspired by a Greek salad but not slavishly so.
I could have any number of options on an open-faced
sandwich, a closed sandwich, or a bed of greens. I could have a baked potato
with fixins’. I could have an Amy's Frozen meal.
I could fashion last night's chicken breast into a gourmet
chicken salad. Or I could simply heat it up and have it just as I prepared it.
I decide against pasta salad because it will take too long.
I decide against scrambled eggs because I had that yesterday. I'm saving the
hummus and the avocado for something else. Bagels with cream cheese and lox or
peanut butter on whole-wheat toast beckon.
I think you probably get the idea by now.
This type of back and forth will eventually start to
announce itself to me. I will recognize it for what it is. I have spent between
two and five minutes contemplating lunch. I will not have spent 10 minutes on
my lunch menu because I've never been at it that long before catching myself
and giving me some much needed advice.
It's only lunch.
Once I say it's only
lunch I switch gears. I pick something and have it. I realize how lucky I
am to have plenty of food in the house and choices. Not everyone has this. I
realize that this is not my last meal. There will be lots of other lunches.
I realize that what I don't choose today I can have
tomorrow. I realize I should be saving my mental energy for more important
matters. There are decisions that merit contemplation. Lunch is not one of
them.
I've taken this advice from myself so many times that I
don't usually need the reminder. I'll just give myself the advice at the
beginning of the lunch preparations.
It's only lunch is a construct that can be applied to a
great number of things. It's only shoes. It's only eye shadow. It's only a
diner menu. It's only an evening out. It's only a throw pillow.
It helps with the bigger decisions too. Decisions with
farther reaching consequences. I've done my research and doing more research
would have diminishing returns. After being thoughtful and thorough I decide
and then see what happens. If it doesn't work out, I'll have more decisions
available at that time.
There a few things in
life where there is one crystal clear path that is perfect. There is usually
more than one good option. There are forks in the road. The dead ends are few
and far between.
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