My school offers a lot of amazing perks. I've gotten to travel, with an without students, to Ireland, China, California, Tennessee, and more. I've gotten to take courses on counseling, creative writing, and cooking. More often, I get to live in an beautiful home, enjoy a stunning view, and work with stellar students. And I get paid for all of this. I know, lucky.
But another huge perk comes in the daily form of great food, cooked for and served to me. I don't even have to wash my own dishes. If that weren't enough, on Wednesdays, Hotchkiss's dining services brings in even better-than-usual bagels from a bakery in Great Barrington.
Some people avoid carbs and gluten and cream cheese and flavor. I don't avoid any of those things, though I try to steer clear of pigging out...except on bagel day in the dining hall.
I've told you, if you've been reading my posts, about the tumor. I explained that I got the message loud and clear that I recovered quickly because I started out in great shape. The tumor didn't care that I was in great shape; it nearly killed me anyway, without warning, without a care in the world.
So, I got another message from the tumor besides to stay in shape. I learned that I don't know what's coming around the pike. (I've learned that in too many ways recently, but those moments probably deserve separate posts.) And since I don't know what's in my future, what figurative or literal tumors are eating away at my esophagus as I write, I don't see why I should save all of my best moments for later. If I deprive myself of gummy worms and Netfix and Swedish Fish and trashy novels and Sour Patch Kids and sourdough bread now so that I can enjoy them later, what if later never comes? I know that might sound fatalistic, but I mean it the other way around.
I want to be the best shape I can be in given that I need to enjoy the time I have. When the dining hall brings in bagels on Wednesdays, I dig in. Life's too short to miss out on the best parts.
What are your bagels, you best parts of life? Feel free to leave a list in the comments.