Making Good Cookie Choices

one bite at a time...

Hi, it's your mid-week self care snack break, serving you up some digestible little bites to help your daily practice along. 

We're all about starting small and taking our daily practice a little bite at a time. You know what's small and comes in perfect little bites? 

Cookies.

I love cookies. 

A day in which I've eaten even a single cookie is so much better than the ungrounded aimlessness that comes from a cookie-less day. I’m a bit particular about which cookies I eat, thus demand cookie excellence— not just any old cookie will do. I won't stuff a cookie in my face absentmindedly; I’ll consider it carefully and dig in to all of the nuances of texture and flavor.

Although you and I most likely  agree on the importance of cookies in our lives,  I'm guessing we have different tastes. Mine might lean towards shortbread¹, while you're all about snickerdoodle.  Let's not even get into all of the chocolate chip cookie possibilities. You may believe raisins are acceptable in cookies².  There are so many available cookie options.  I'm guessing over a lifetime we've  tried  dozens—probably hundreds, if we're cookie enthusiasts—many of which were The! Best! Cookie! Ever!, while others didn't merit a second bite, let alone the effort of sneaking some into our pocket for later. 

It's a lifetime job, constantly sampling different cookies: thats how we know what we like and what we don't,  which cookies scratch specific cookie itches. 

And I'd never ask you to create your own cookie recipe without first eating a whole bunch of different cookies. 

Now, let's pretend that intentions are like cookies.  Go back and read those last few paragraphs and instead of “cookies,” substiture with "intentions."

This is a slightly flawed metaphor. Best practice dictates to choose one intention for the day, but there is no upward limit to your cookie consumption.³

In our previous newsletter, we touched on the importance of setting intentions every day. It's a simple way to focus on bringing about small, positive outcomes—without taking any time out of your day. The purpose of setting an intention is deciding how you want to show up in the world and cheering yourself along that path.  It's not  a task to be accomplished or an item to cross off of a to-do list.  Your intention clarifies how you want to carry yourself through your day. (Kind of the same way you should carry cookies through your day.)

I'm  offering you a few intentions to try out. Choose one in the morning, recognize it, ruminate on it, then keep coming back to it throughout the day. Or better yet, pick it out the night before. In the same way you get your outfit ready before you go to bed, you can also choose your attitude to have waiting in the morning and wear it around all day. 

Try saying it aloud as soon as you wake up. I repeat mine as I'm opening the drapes to invite the morning light it and again as I'm fixing my tea.

After taking some of these for a spin, you may find that your own intentions will come naturally. If not, don't sweat it. We'll be talking about how to set your own intentions in upcoming newsletters. (We're going to be hanging out twice a week from now on, so  we've got plenty of time.)

Intentions

• I'm a social media free zone.

• I make good choices.

• I will survive today.

• I take no shit. 

• I am kind.

• I am hydrated.

• I do not take things personally.

• I ask for help when I need it. 

• I share cookies.

• Change is good.

Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear any intentions you set for yourself that you feel like sharing. I’d love to help you craft your own intentions—feel free to message me. See you in a few days.

1. Or anything chocolate, or tahini, or unusual ingredients or arcane techniques or anything in the Mexican wedding cookie/Russian tea cake/butterball family.

2. Raisins don’t belong in cookies. Or in ice cream. Or in cake.

3. (I'm going to be bummed when I start writing about meditation and realize I've already used the cookie analogy.)