I Finally Made My Grocery List

I just couldn’t put it off any longer.

I have a family to feed, and I can’t keep using the fast food coupons that seem to magically appear in my mailbox!

But the thing is…. I make a list, a plan of what to eat, and then I read something or hear something that negates all the hard work I just did. Suddenly my choices aren’t what is currently healthy, and then I feel like I have to start from scratch.

That makes me want to run to the mailbox in hopes of finding more magical coupons to cover dinner tonight!

And then I get on this endless cycle of pondering all the choice, and why should I be one of the lucky ones to have all the choice, and why not Oliver, and so on, and so on.

I must learn to Live in the Plenty.

So I get my list and my plan out of the recycle bin (thank God it’s still there and not too messy!), and I take another good look at it.

Are there fruits and vegetables included?

Whole grains?

Lean meats?

Fish?

A few meatless dishes?

Some fruit-based dessert options? (To go with the ice cream of course!)

Is there variety for the men of my house?

Can I afford the things on this list?

Check, check, and check.

Good.

Good enough.

It’s been under my nose the whole time – this grocery list that I’ve worked hard to create. It’s a good list. It’s got some of the healthiest food I can afford, food that my family will eat, and it’s adaptable to seasons and sales cycles. And it’s got a few treats on it as well!

The plan is simple – a plan I’ve been working out for a decade, since that first time I sat down to make a menu for the week.

I’ve done my homework, I know what to stock up on when it’s on sale, I know the good prices, and it’s all right there.

Done.

Can’t keep redoing.

Not unless I need to. Like when my body started refusing a lot of forms of lactose two years ago. Even then the changes weren’t that big.

Nothing will ever be perfect, and I have to know that’s OK.

And I have to be OK with having this much choice, with actually having the resources to buy these things when so many people do not.

And I have to learn how to help those without the resources.

And then I have to actually help.

Long journeys ahead – heart journeys.

Changes coming – heart changes.

For now, this list doesn’t change, but the attitude in crossing off the items on the list has absolutely changed.