Take what you eat, eat what you take

I've been thinking about my dog Payton a lot, and who she might be hanging out with in heaven. I imagine she's found her way to my poppop, my mom's dad, because they both lived to eat and I know constant access to good food is a requirement in their versions of heaven.

Have you ever seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding? To give you an almost exact illustration of what my poppop was like, he was like Toula's dad. The only difference is that instead of Windex being the solution to all problems, for my poppop it was duct tape. Otherwise, they had the same skyrocketing confidence they were always right (about every topic), absolutely zero filter and ability to “read the room" for what might be appropriate, and the same tendency to be dramatic (poppop would always say “when I die…" as a way to get attention).

I learned so much from this man, but there’s one thing that really stuck with me, which I’d love to share with you.

As someone who grew up in the Philippines, poppop loved to feed people. Feeding people (even when they've insisted 100 times they aren't hungry) is just part of the filipino culture.

I remember my brothers and I being at my grandparents house when we were younger. It would be a meal time and poppop would happily pile mounds of food on our plates and it was all fun and games… until you didn't finish your food.

“Aiy-aiy-aiy” he would say if we told him we were full or actually didn't want everything we put on our plates, “you take it, you eat it!” My poor brother Connor, he was such a picky eater and could never finish his food. My poppop would make him sit at the kitchen table for hours until my mom would finally come pick us up and save little Connor.

I know this sounds a littleee intense. Looking back, it was definitely extreme to expect a 5 year old to eat 10 servings in one meal. But it didn't matter that his stomach was the size of a tangerine and he could only eat so much and his food palate only enjoyed Kraft Mac N Cheese and ketchup… in poppop's eyes if it's on your plate, you need to finish it. You don't waste it. If you waste it, then you've wasted all the resources that went into making it available for you.

Even though I think my poppop’s methods could be turned down a few notches, it did teach me a very important life lesson:

Take what you eat, and eat what you take

If you know you don't like it, or don't need it, then why take it?

If you know you're probably not going to use it or even try it, then why take it?

If you know someone else could really use it more than you, then why take it?

What if you live your life so that you only take what you need or love, and actually utilize them?

It's a silly analogy, but I know that it's helped serve as a compass for my decisions and values in life. Who and what I take in. How I'm effecting and impacting the world around me. What I allow in my space, and what I keep there physically or emotionally. To honor and respect the resources around me, and to not take them for granted. To not be thoughtless about the waste I produce during my time on earth. To share and not be greedy. That whatever I take in this life, is my responsibility. It's helped me create a life full of meaning and intention, and I hope that maybe it does for you too.