Moving Forward Checklist

By Bill Benson ยท Sept 7, 2023

Moving Forward Checklist

Bill’s January Tip: Sticky and Sweet

I’ve had a lifelong wrestling match with sugar consumption – to the point where pastry avoidance has (once again) made my list of New Year’s resolutions.

My mother, on the other hand, embraces sugar; preferring to see confection as an expression of love instead of a lurking obsession. So, it was not surprising when mom served her homemade sticky buns as a part of our Christmas breakfast get-together.

As she proudly delivered these rolls from her warm oven to the brightly colored table, my pulse quickened and my taste-buds danced: I knew mom’s sweet treat was a final opportunity to indulge before beginning my annual sugar detox.

Receiving my plate, I immediately pounced on my portion, my fingers ripping apart the gooey ribbons of cinnamon pastry – the use of fork and knife would have taken too long….

Eating sticky buns the way I do “sticks” with you: sugary residue stubbornly coats the hands despite all the finger-licking attempts to extract every last molecule of flavor.

My impulsiveness proved increasingly consequential as my sugar-prints transferred to everything I touched: napkins and utensils became fly-strip sticky, and encumbered the enjoyment of ingesting the rest of my meal. The only solution was a soapy one: throwing my hands in the air, I excused myself and headed toward the washbasin.

Food for Thought

One can view life as a huge symbolic cinnamon roll. Please take this moment to review and digest 2014 by contemplating the following:

  1. Did you methodically chew through last year’s moments, minutes, and months by purposefully sticking to a healthy plan of action?
  2. Have you nurtured emotional balance with a well-rounded diet of learning, socializing, exercising, and charitable contribution?
  3. Were experiences sweetened through a decision to be consciously kind last year?
  4. Did impulsiveness ever devour your sensibilities, creating “sticky situations” in 2014?
  5. Have you effectively washed your hands of any hurt or humiliation experienced or are you self-consciously dragging last year’s defeats into 2015?
  6. Are you using lessons learned to grow emotionally bigger and stronger?
  7. How can these discoveries inform and empower your decisions going forward?

May this new year not be a “wipe the slate clean” way of beginning again, rather let’s use 2015 to build on the foundational learning of years past: Let’s clean the emotional residue from our fingers, while realizing the dexterity both our successes and failures have granted us.

I wish you the kind of wisdom that comes from the accumulation of all you’ve experienced: Let’s re-portion our lives, as needed, to savor life’s flavorful moments: Both sticky and sweet.

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