So there I was at Costco, buying a supply of peanut butter, jelly, and bread so I could maintain my steady lunch diet of PB&J sandwiches, when an inkling of an epiphany started to form at the very back of my brain.
I have cupboards full of soups, beans, tomatoes, pastas, sauces, spices, and three different types of flour. At best guess, I could make 20 meals with the ingredients I have on hand, but those ingredients will stay on my shelves for awhile longer, because I just bought my Costco-sized PB&J supplies. As I walked into the parking lot, that pesky epiphany churning just beyond my conscious thought started to seep into my rational brain. Why on earth am I buying more ingredients so I can eat the same boring meal day in and day out, when I have so many other meal options at my disposal, which are "free" and probably taste 100 times better? This question is particularly poignant considering I HATED and refused to eat peanut butter until I was like 25-years-old, and I still refuse to eat it unless it's paired with something very, very sweet.
The answer to the question is simple or, more to the point, simplicity. It's so super easy to have the makings for PB&J sitting in a drawer at work; they last forever, and I can break them out whenever lunch happens upon me. Whereas using the other ingredients in my cupboards requires thought, planning, and the ability to locate a tupperware container with a matching lid.
But my epiphany didn't stop at the PB&J sandwiches. I started to think about what other resources in my life are being under-utilized or worse completely unused as I live a "Groundhog Day" sort of existence. I'm not talking resources like the Stair Master in your room that doubles as a clothes hanger. I'm talking about your internal resources; those skills and talents that lay dormant simply because they require extra time and effort. These are things that naturally interest you, that come easily to you, but they do not currently benefit or may even complicate your current living situation, so you put it on the shelf. You tell yourself you'll use it one of these days. You'll find time to break it out. At least that's what you tell yourself as you continue to live a PB&J life; it may not be as interesting, but it's definitely easier.
I do not want to live a PB&J life. I do not want to subsist on a diet of something I find mildly intolerable, but it may be prudent for me to take stock of what I have on my shelves. After all, I wouldn't want to throw out the PB&J when all I have waiting for me in the pantry is corn flour, olives, and vinegar. ;)
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