less & more

I want less of:

• clothing
• jewelry
• stuff on the floor
• pens & pencils
• coats, shoes & bags
• books
• magazines
• paper piles
• time spent cleaning and picking up

I want more of:

• laughter
• evening walks
• learning new skills
• naps
• glasses of wine with friends
• reading books
• hugs
• family bike rides

just things

When I set out jogging on Tuesday, I forgot I was still wearing my favorite pair of earrings. They are small and dangly, delicate, with amethysts. They were  bouncing in an irritating manner as I ran, so I took them off and tucked them in a zippered pants pocket with my keys.

When I got home and emptied my pockets before a shower, I heard a "clunk", the keys fell on the floot, and I realized there was a hole in my pocket. Only one earring was still in there. I was instantly swept with an intense feeling of disappointment. I loved those earrings! I wear them almost daily! I'll never find another similar pair! thoughts ran through my mind.

Then I stopped. I repeated to myself: They are just things. Just things. That's it. Yes, pretty things that I enjoy, but just things. And just like that, I let it go. Things come and go in our lives. Why do we invest so much emotion in them?

As I took my shower I contemplated what other items I might be able to part with given this revelation. I will tell you more about that at another time. Then I stepped out of the shower...and on to the missing earring.

I'm glad to have it back, for now, but even more glad for the occasion to think about things that are just things.

cake

I need some help here. But let me back up:

I have been working on fitness and (I think) doing a great job at being active.
For me, this is a pleasure and not a duty. It's necessary. It keeps me happy.
(Or at least even-keel). I find perspective. I release stress. I daydream.
I walk, I jog, I ride my bike to work. I do push-ups in the morning. Hurray! I love it.

I'm also happy to say that I always eat 5 fruits and veggies a day now. And sometimes 7.
Again, not hard to do. I like fruits and veggies. I live 4 blocks from a little neighborhood natural food store and a mile from a great supermarket. I have generous friends and neighbors who share their garden bounty this time of year. Our lot is full of and surrounded by fruit trees. Easy peasy.

Where I'm not doing so well health-wise....

is when it comes to eating cake. Or chocolate. Or ice cream. Or cheese.
I seem to be "on" or "off" when it comes to self-control, with very little reasoned room in the middle. Either I'm actively choosing not to consume those items (which, with a high cholesterol issue at my relatively tender (ahem) age I know I shouldn't), or I'm indulging without restraint. It isn't a healthy pattern, but I'm not sure how to break it.

Oddly, when we were in France this summer and surrounded by all kinds of delicious food, I felt much less tempted. I could enjoy bites of something, or taking a picture of it. I also felt more aesthetically fulfilled--the visual pleasure of being in a lovely place. And I had less stress. I was on vacation. It seems like the family dinner hour, when we reunite after the long day, is usually when the teenage p'tit minous choose to engage in some regularly scheduled sibling conflict. Which makes me automatically want to start finishing the ice cream.

(somewhat ironically, just as I was writing this, Minou came back from the store and put a chocolate button in my mouth.)

So, suggestions please!
How can apply the principles of minimalism--just enough and no more--to healthy eating and treats in moderation?