I’ve been thinking about how much is “enough.”

We Americans love our freedom. We hate being told No. And we thrive on options. If something is good…then more is even better!

But, as Bono says in a U2 song,

“This freedom, it might cost you your liberty.”

I think about the incredible freedom we have to communicate…and yet we can’t seem to stop checking our phones for fear of missing out. Our freedom is costing us our liberty to be off the phone. But that’s a different topic.

I want to talk about food options. This final day of the first week gave me a really nice gift, and it was experiencing some food liberty.

We went to Aldi today

Aldi is a supermarket of sorts. Heidi likes it because it isn’t too big, and the prices are great. There aren’t a lot of options (which Heidi likes) compared to bigger places, but there’s still a fair amount to choose from.

Normally, Aisle 1 takes me awhile

It contains all the snacks. I usually walk in and downshift to first gear. I’m going to pick out my weekend snacks, and it’s gonna take some time!

First, the category. Chips or some other kind of joy?

When I finally decide on, say, chips, then it’s on to, What kind of chips? This can take me quite awhile.

But then, I think, Wait, what else is there? What am I missing out on? So I’ll scuttle over to the next aisle, where the Hostess-type products are. Man, maybe I should get some of these instead?

But then, I think, Dear Lord, how could I forget? Ice cream-type things!

At this point, Heidi is ready to check out, and I have to make a decision. But I’m not totally happy with it. Because, options. What will I miss out on by choosing this one?

So, here’s my food freedom (I can have literally anything!) costing me liberty (but I can’t even decide.)

But today? Ah, today was different.

I walked in, knowing I wasn’t buying any of that. Nothing. And so I waltzed through those aisles, barely giving all my options a second glance. (Oh sure, a few of my favorites were calling out to me. I shunned them.) I’m telling you, it was a feeling of liberty. I knew I wasn’t eating any of that, and so entire aisles, hundreds of products, were irrelevant to me.

As Mel Gibson said in Braveheart, “Freedom!”

Literally dozens and dozens of decisions did not need to be made.
I was free from having to choose.

And there’s a flip side

Then, I walked into the vegetable aisle, and I realized, I can eat any of these, and it’s all ok. Every single option here is a good one. What a weird but nice realization!

Yes, I could still make choices, but it was only in one aisle, and any of them would’ve been fine. Plus, I didn’t even have to make those choices. My wife already had. The book we’re using is really good about walking you through a select number of meals.

You might be rolling your eyes right now.

You might be telling me I’m rationalizing. But I am not. I truly felt free in my limitations. Less is more.

A surprising and happy little present from my PB Challenge.

Day 7 update

Heidi has been making some very interesting dishes. The one here is eggplant with pico de gallo. Yes, (sigh) and a lot of leaves.
The eggplant was a little “fluffy;” we wondered if we could make it more crispy somehow. (Without Crisco, mind you.)
But the pic de gallo was in-credible. Tangy, creamy, substantial.
I’m finding avocado is my new best friend.
And I didn’t mind all the leaves because the pico de gallo was so powerfully good. It needed some calming down by boring lettuce and kale.
It was really encouraging to eat that meal. It tasted good, and I knew it was really good fuel.

Something you can do right now:

Go to your local supermarket, and pick one category. Like chips. How many options are there?
Imagine not having to make a choice. Would that feel like freedom to you?

Day 7: The Freedom of Limits