Eat Your Greens

Simple truths can be so elusive-- like trying to catch a scoop of clouds with a  colander. Everywhere pithy sayings are bandied our way. Clever quotes, trite cliches, the overused adage get lobbed carelessly through the course of a typical conversation with the profound truths that they contain widely missing their target almost every single time.

Some times are special though. There are moments when you "get it." You know, like, really get it. That silly little phrase that's been a part of your parlance for decades suddenly becomes a shining beacon of insight.

Eat your greens is one of those sorts of things. For how many generations have we been chastising our kids and ourselves to eat fresh fruits and vegetables? I'm guessing many, many, many.

We all know you should eat a bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Grab an apple; seems easy enough. But it's not. Those small but mighty acts of will which lead you to the fruit bowl for a snack rather than microwaving a slice of leftover pizza are like mini miracles that we must conjure up time and time again.

Nothing worthwhile comes easily, as the platitude goes, and this is true! Why go through the hassle of washing lettuce everyday for a salad? Why not just opt for the pizza? Ice cream clearly tastes better than bananas unless you're a crazy person.   It is because it really does make you feel better. Different. Younger. Who knew? Oh, yeah. We all knew.

And those little Cutie clementines? Those things are tasty. Roasted brussels sprouts are really easy to make, taste good, and look really cool sitting there on the roasting pan all slicked up with olive oil and sparkly salt crystals. Now, if I can just turn these acts of will into habit, I'll be good as gold.