The Rest of Your Life

A flower scribbled in a childish manner that made you feel simple - like plain vanilla ice cream on a hot summer's day - drawn on a poster that hangs on your wall reminding you that "today is the first day of the rest of your life." Stifled in this office whose windows don't open, staring at this information box, and gazing longingly outside at the pouring rain, I have to say, today was not a great start to the rest of my life.

Today I had lunch with a friend; we discussed the economy and jobs and unfair interweavings of the capitalist system and other heavy topics with general malaise while she ate macaroni and cheese and I, with great effort, dug my spoon into some frozen yogurt.

She countered the depressing discussion with the last ditch trick employed by all people who suddenly stop trying, "It could be worse."

It could be worse. Famine, rape, war, poverty, Hannah Montana - yeah, it could be worse. So, what do you do with that information?

You eat it, is what.

I'm talking, you sauté it with some extra-virgin olive oil, add some sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and peppers, top that sucker with cheese and put it in your belly. Of all things sacred to humans, eating is perhaps the most frequent and diverse. It therefore only makes sense to digest the negativity as you would any meal, and dispose of it likewise.

It's fall again, which means that our breakfasts are rushed, our lunches are either solitary or overcrowded, and our dinners have evolved into a discussion of hectic schedules and things to do. That forgiven and laid back atmosphere surrounding food so prevalent in the summer has given way to another school year, another winter just over the horizon, another year of reality setting back in. It's also the time of year when we, among the industriousness and fleeting sunlight, are ever-encouraged to pile our plates with love.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. A pale purple poster with a scribbled white flower that reminds us of spring, even though the leaves are falling, the sky is darkening, and the ground is soaked with a chilly rain. It may make you feel simpler and bring you back to a time when that extra scoop of vanilla ice cream felt like heaven on your tongue as the sun poured onto your back. But today - TODAY - is the first day of the rest of your life.