Wisdom from Ice Cream

It is unbelievable how this spring has felt like summer! It’s hot during the day, and the nights don’t cool off a whole lot - unlike some springs when we get frost that kills the apple blossoms.

Do you know what hot weather means? Ice cream! (Well, honestly, I think ice cream is great in any temperature and season but you know what I mean. LOL)

Personally, I love Dairy Queen Blizzards. Georgia Mud Fudge or Fudge Pecan Turtle. (If you’ve never heard of them, it’s because they are from an old menu. I suggest you try them. And for your information, I am not affiliated with Dairy Queen, I just think it’s not a life worth living if you haven’t had these Blizzards.)

Eating ice cream when it’s hot outside has a big challenge…it melts. And I am not a fan of melted ice cream.

And when my Blizzard ice cream melts, I have an interesting tradition. I try to eat all the liquid ice cream around the edges of my cup first before I let myself eat the frozen ice cream stacked in the middle of my cup.

But you know what happens? I eat only melted ice cream because it melts as fast as I can put it in my mouth. Scooping spoonfuls of melting ice cream is a full time job. I’m stressing out as I try to catch up. I don’t get to eat much, or sometimes any, of the frozen stuff in the centre that I really want. Making it all kinda pointless.

Upon reflection, I’m not really sure why I do this.

No one told me that this is how I have to eat my ice cream but I do. It is simply a rule that I have made for myself. I have other rules that I have made for myself in my life that I follow for various reasons: I don’t watch tv on a weekday evening, I don’t eat after 8pm, I don’t go to the grocery store if I only need one item. I understand the reasons for these rules I have for myself.

But I’m not entirely sure of the reason for my ice cream eating tradition.

Maybe it is the concept of “work before play”. The idea that you do what you don’t want before   you do/get what you do want.

I don’t completely disagree with this concept; I think it is important to get tasks done, even if you don’t really want to do them. And doing the “work” before you “play” makes the “play” a good incentive to do the “work”.

But, I don’t 100% agree with this concept either…my ice cream eating tradition has shown me this.

Sometimes, when you are “working” (or eating the liquid ice cream), the opportunity for what you really want is melting away.

The opportunity to get what you really want in life has an expiration date, an end to the Blizzard, if you will - it’s called death (No, this didn’t just take a dark turn…it’s one of those “reality checks”.)

Many of us make a full time job of eating the melted ice cream of life and we stress as we try so hard to catch up so that we can finally enjoy the frozen stuff, the stuff we really want.

What if we finally “catch up” but the cup is empty, the Blizzard is done, and we never got a scoop of the frozen stuff?

Was that a life worth living?

What would happen if you took a spoonful of the stuff you really want?

Here’s to conquering stress.

With heart,

Louise

The Stress Experts