Choice Cuts

I faced a horrible choice today. Horrible. Celebrity Cafe, noon, Dallas. Special of the day: meatloaf and potatoes au gratin for $7.99. The dilemma: inhale a delicious, fat- and calorie-laden meal of comfort food goodness, or get something healthy.

The little devil on my shoulder whispered, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Come to Mama!" The little angel on my other shoulder (who sounds suspiciously like my boot camp instructor) hollered, "No, no, no! It'll settle straight on your *ss!" So I did the big-girl thing and made the "good" choice...a low-carb chicken wrap with a side of fruit. (But because I am human, I scarfed up a fun-sized package of M&M's to reward myself on the drive home.)

Would it be considered pretentious to walk around with my own “applause” button for when I make a good choice? Heaven knows I need some sort of acknowledgement when I forego temptation and go with a good-for-me choice!

We are all living real-life versions of a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. (Remember those?) Choose the meatloaf and cheesy, cheesy potatoes? Turn to page 152 and expand your butt by two sizes, wallow in guilt, and lie to your boot camp instructor that you've been living on bean sprouts and spring water all week. Choose the chicken wrap? Turn to page 71 and be proud of yourself for doing the right thing for the right reason. (This is where the aforementioned applause button would come in handy – I live for positive feedback!!!)

I tell my two daughters this little nugget of wisdom all the time: life is full of choices, and the choices you make determine the person you are. So explain to me why the "right" choice is usually the harder one. Not fair, but then again, where is it written that life is fair? As the Man in Black said to Princess Buttercup, "Anyone who says differently is selling something."

(Hmm…if they’re selling that applause button, I might have to buy one. That idea keeps sounding better and better…!)