“I don’t LIKE salad!”

The lobby of my YMCA was in full Saturday bustle. I chirped my entry card and veered to the right around the staircase. Parents herded their kids, trying to make an exit.

Photo by Nadine Primeau on Unsplash (and this salad looks pretty amazing)

“I don’t LIKE salad!” I heard a toddler announce right before he almost ran into me.

I scooched out of his way and smiled. Honestly, it didn’t sound like he was throwing a fit. It was more an honest assertion.

I wanted to lean down and say, “I feel you buddy.”

This last week I went to the doctor and he asked me about my sugar intake, specifically about my gummies. It’s not a secret that I enjoy gummy bears, worms, lifesavers….really any candy and if it is gummy all the better.

Obviously, my attentive doctor knows me pretty well. He knows I try so hard to exercise and eat well. He also knows that sugar can take control. “I’d like to see you try to just pay a bit more attention to sugar. It hides in things we don’t even realize.”

I felt like the little boy. And maybe, just maybe, I wanted to throw a fit with a little foot stomping.

BUT I LIKE GUMMIES!

Photo by Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash (my dream spread)

I reflect on that “I don’t like salad” moment, and I feel that little guy’s pain. I even like veggies. Brag alert, I’ve steadily started putting tomatoes in my omelets and my sister could tell you what a big deal that is. But, even as I try, I’m tired of having to worry about food.

I’m proud to say, that morning after I met salad-boy, I went to the grocery store and bought a boatload of produce. The Trader Joe’s clerk said it was the healthiest cart he had ever seen. (He almost rang the bell, okay…not really.) I conquered. I’m conquering. It’s true. And, at the same time, I acknowledge that this salad-eating life has its struggles, because the struggle represents so much more.

We all have our things we have to pay attention to. As a kid, they are dictated to us. As adults, we bear the burden of self-care, shopping and gummy awareness. I’m here to commiserate that all those things can feel pretty overwhelming. I’m on my own and, at times, it feels heavy—all this self-nutrient/survival stuff is up to me. I know you know that it’s bigger than trying to eat a few more baby carrots (I’m basically a hero at this) and more about this well-rounded picture of, day after day, stepping up to the adult plate. Parents, I’m sure you feel that even more as you do this for yourself and your little ducklings.

I wonder about y’all. What are the small things you feel like you have to watch on the daily that can feel like a lot? Is there something that you want to yell into a lobby, not to cause a scene but more to release its claim? I don’t like ___________

Speaking it out loud, acknowledging it and conquering it…that can be pretty brave if you ask me.

 Remember,

Your Brave Tutu (You’re brave, too-too!)

-Take courage in delight. Discover power in small moments.