Savoring

I’ve been hungry for ice cream and not low-fat frozen yogurt or that fat-free nasty stuff from the grocery store. (You do what makes ice cream taste good, right? It’s the fat!) I’ve been wanting some Ben & Jerry’s Everything But the… Best ice cream ever! “A Collision of Chocolate & Vanilla Ice Creams with HEATH® Bar Chunks, White Chocolatey Chunks, Peanut Butter Cups & Chocolatey-Covered Almonds.”

Ordinarily when I get ice cream, I go out to Ritter’s or someplace like that and gobble up a dish of whatever deliciousness is on the menu that day, or I buy a pint of B&J’s and eat the whole damn thing right out of the container all in one afternoon. When it’s over, the experience is usually a letdown—an anticlimax because I’ve downed it so fast I didn’t even have time to enjoy it. And the memory of it is nothing more than a smear of  sticky on my fingers and buttload of guilt.

But tonight, I decided to try something different. I scooped one helping out of  the pint and put it in a bowl. Did you know that a pint of B&J’s has four servings in it? Seriously! I read it on the back of the carton before I opened it. A serving is half a cup.  I’m guessing that probably means that a sleeve of Thin Mints is also more than one serving, huh? Damn…

Anyway, I sat down, lit a candle, and took a full half an hour to eat my half a cup of Everything But the…. It was fantastic! I didn’t read a book or a magazine, I didn’t talk on the phone, I didn’t write or make a list–I simply enjoyed the ice cream. By the time I was done, some of it had melted a little in the bowl, but I finished it anyway.  And amazingly, when I swallowed that last melty chocolately spoonful, I was quite content, and really didn’t want anymore. Even more amazing—I didn’t feel a moment of guilt.

This may not seem like a revelation to anyone but me, but savoring that frozen treat made it so much tastier, so much…better than any ice cream I’ve scarfed down before. I don’t even mind the 230 calories that I’m going to have to swim off tomorrow—totally worth because I enjoyed every bite!  And therein lies the life lesson for today, Mes Amies. Savor life, enjoy each moment, and don’t deny yourself small pleasures.  Go ahead and eat the ice cream…just not the whole carton at once…