Sprinkle some Cheerios on it

I think there are lessons to be learned in everyday life. This morning while having breakfast I realized that the food in front of me was quite the amalgam of life experiences even though it looked pretty Spartan.

• Post Wheat (and) Bran cereal - The most boring of the three ingredients in terms of story I must admit but was probably the most work. If anyone has ever hunted for a cereal that is low in sugar , high in fiber, and completely lacking in High Fructose Corn Syrup or Hydrogenated Soybean Oil you know that it takes an embarrassingly long time to do. Anyway, I think I tried about 6 different ones before settling on this one. Apparently I get a B+ for my efforts. Moving on!
• Vanilla Soy Milk - When I lived in Thailand there was no milk anywhere (and if you did discover some it was extremely expensive and questionable since its origins were unknown/very far away). I found that I drank milk mostly out of habit in the US and not because I was particularly attached to it. Soy milk was abundant, cheap, and delicious everywhere. 'Nuff said. There will be several future posts dedicated to Thailand so I don't want to overdo it here.
• CHEERIOS! - You wondered when I was going to bring it up, well, here's your payoff. Even with the goodness of Vanilla soy milk the taste of wheat and bran can still be akin to eating wood. That's where the Cheerios come in. I don't buy them (so no guilt there :-) my girlfriend Kate does. It is her breakfast cereal par excellence and I agree that it is delightful. When local strawberries aren't in season and all the blueberries around come from South America I turn to those little happy O's.

Some of you (hopefully not many) may look down your nose at me and say, "you spent all that time getting a wholesome, healthy breakfast together and then you ruin it with Honey Nut Cheerios?!?!?!" I agree that it is slightly inconsistent but it's usually only a handful, about 10-20%, of the overall volume. In addition Honey Nut Cheerios really isn't too bad for you at all. There are worse things to add to your breakfast. Sometimes if you get too entrenched in the calorie hunting battle you forget to have fun and loosen up a little. The cheerios remind me to quit being such a sourpuss!

What is the point of literally walking you through "what I have for breakfast" (which is the very definition of TMI)? It is to illustrate a point. I LOVE what I eat for breakfast. It isn't hard. It is integrated into my life without difficulty. I am reminded of the battles that I am fighting (and winning slowly) with weight loss. I am reminded of the charm, grace, and honesty of an exotic country that helped turn my life around. I am reminded of the person I love most in the world. It's simple and effective.

Ultimately I think we are all responsible for loving our own lives. No detail is too small. You hold the pen in your hands. Fashion yourself a story that reminds you how great life is. Don't forget to sprinkle a few cheerios on the things that don't taste good too ;-)