Make Your Vices Count
The French drink strong coffee and wine. And man, do they like butter. They live longer than us.
The good people of Asheville and Boulder love their beer, and are typically fitter than the rest of their NC and CO counterparts.
I have plenty of vices (finding ways to procrastinate on getting newsletters written turns out to be one of them. Who knew?!) And in these two years of a pandemic, I'm guessing a lot of us have been indulging in our vices more than usual - from sitting around in PJs to watching one more episode on Netflix to an extra piece of pie, because, like, who cares.
But it seems to me, that it's not what our vices are that's important, but how we indulge in them. When the French drink coffee, they don't gulp down a 20oz 'to-go' cup in traffic, they sit with a small espresso and the newspaper. The people in 'Beer City' don't heft down a case of Coors Light while staring at football all afternoon (ok fine, not often), they go for a mountain bike ride and then enjoy an artisanal IPA with friends at the pub.
There are vices that are about excess, and there are vices that are more about being connected to and mindfully engaging in something that makes you happy. These are (I’m arguing) healthy vices.
After a recent trip to a somber memorial service, I stopped in a cute little mountain town and bought myself an ice cream. I walked around town for 20 minutes in the sunshine and enjoyed my treat and watched lots of kids and parents doing the same thing. It became a moment of noticing, of reflecting, and of soaking up my surroundings, not just consumption of sugar. It fed my soul.
What small vice could feed your soul this weekend? No guilt!
I too often trot out the old maxim - take time to smell the roses - about colleagues who fly long distances to a meeting in beautiful spot, on the company's dime, and then immediately leave to go back home or work that night instead of enjoying collegial company and vices. I have taken 'walks' with the grandkids, each with their own small treasure chest, to fill with 'stuff' that we encounter - bugs, rocks, leaves, whatever - and rarely got farther than 50 meters before they fill them up. Such fun for all! Definitely we all need to take the time to be more fully present in the moment and savor small vices! Not saying my grandkids are small vices?
Love this.... :) And it is so true. It’s about experiencing a moment of pleasure fully, not numbing out with excess, which - turns out - is way too easy to do...