One of my friends posted an Instagram photo of a large cup of foamy cappuccino with a tiny spoon – and she called it “the perfect combination.” Like when you go to the local ice cream store, taste some flavors with the tiny taster spoon, then eat your regular-sized ice cream selection with it so you can make the special treat last longer.
It made me stop and think: so many times I want to eat dessert with a big spoon. I like big, juicy bites that fill my mouth with deliciousness all at once. But the downside is that eating treats this way means the experience seems to end faster, even if you savor each of those giant bites. A few delightful mouthfulls, and it’s gone.
Other times I do enjoy eating dessert with a tiny spoon. Diminutive, delectable morsels that require one to eat slowly and deliberately, gradually consuming the treat bit by bit. The experience endures much longer this way, drawing out the enjoyment for a few extra marvelous minutes.
I don’t really see anything wrong with eating dessert using either one of these approaches. But what struck me about the photo was thinking about how the tiny spoon applied to my life. As with desserts, in life, so many times I want to have all the things I want in one big bite, to enjoy right that second. I want all the good things to happen simultaneously so I can experience the ultimate enjoyment all at once. The adage “you can have it all, just not all at once” frustrates me.
But after I saw the photo of the tiny spoon and the cappuccino, it occurred to me that maybe I should start thinking differently. Maybe it’s better to not “have it all” at the same time. Maybe I should approach the large scoop of all the things I want with a tiny spoon. Then I can savor each little good thing that comes to me, each goal I reach, each place I travel to, each beautiful moment in time, for being its own little nugget of goodness. And I can still have the joy and excitement that those other things I want might be in the next tiny bite. And having to wait for them isn’t so bad, because isn’t it better when the delicious dessert last longer?
Photo cred: Rocío Baratnek
