Look but Don't Touch

Dessert-W- by JoaoCordeiro

Once more I find myself struggling with the issue of self control. A friend dismissed my craving for Nutella
as petty ephemeral pleasure (obviously chocolate fingers have not been a staple of his life since age five, the sad sad thing). My succinct response to the master of discipline is 'whatever dude, all pleasure is ephemeral, that's the whole point'. But when the good Lord said 'lead us not into temptation' I think the subject matter was more forbidden fruit than do not covet they neighbor's wife.

Women can say no to new physical temptation perhaps easier than menfolk, but can they resist strappy Manolos when their bank balance is overdrawn? Can they say no to a piping hot brownie with vanilla ice cream on the side on a particularly hormonal day? Can they say no to a poisonous but particularly sexay exay? Surprisingly a huge number of them can. In today's cat eat cat world, the female of the species must have a tiny waist, thighs of steel, flowing locks, unblemished skin, teeth so white they sparkle like newly fallen snow, and thats just the over forty crowd. That takes a whole box of "No"s, to achieve. As far as real-a-tionships are concerned, you gotta be smart, play by the rules, keep your cards close to your chest, and a whole litany of other poker metaphors that I don't need to recycle here.

Again, self restraint to get ahead.

The only thing we are all encouraged to let loose in the age of The Secret is our ambition. Let your desire for world domination go nuts, want that house, that car, that lifestyle, create a vision board and keep your thoughts focused on attracting it. Scary. Empowering. Exhausting. Meanwhile, people are meditating till they're blue in the face, literally, numb from bum to skull to achieve that non-ephemeral pleasure that is supposed to carry you through life in a bubble of detachment. I am walking that tightrope. Walk it with me. Trying to FOCUS on the important stuff, I just need to make sure that I know what that is.

"Cat Among the Pigeons"