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Sandwiches I Didn't Enjoy
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
Genesis 3:19 (NRSV)
So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NRSV)
It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash
It happens in the time it took to look back
I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time
What is it I've done with my life?
From "Blink" by Revive
The eighteenth century nobleman John Montagu was an avid gambler. Unwilling to allow his hunger to interrupt his games of cribbage, he often ordered a slice of salted beef served between two pieces of toast. The bread covering the meat afforded him the convenience of eating while playing without getting his cards greasy. Montagu happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, so his meal of choice, which was probably known simply as "bread and meat" previously, became known as the "sandwich." When Montagu ordered his meal, others would order "the same as Sandwich."1 2
Personally, I'm a big fan of the sandwich. At a certain deli downtown, I've been ordering a turkey sandwich on toasted rye bread. A bagel shop one block over serves a delicious vegan bagel sandwich made of hummus, bean sprouts, and cucumber slices. A certain bookstore cafe downtown serves an avocado chicken salad sandwich on ciabatta bread. At a deli near the local shopping mall, I usually eat a club sandwich served on a croissant with guacamole. At Greek or Mediterranean restaurants, I often order a gyro, which is a sandwich made of meat, vegetables, and tzatziki sauce wrapped up in pita bread. During my less health-conscious moments, my sandwich of choice is the ever-popular bacon cheeseburger.
In late 2002, singer-songwriter Warren Zevon appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, not long after he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. During the interview, Letterman asked him if his terminal diagnosis had given him any insights that most of us might not have. He replied that he had come to realize "how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich."3
I love sandwiches, but, looking back on my life, I can see that there have been many sandwiches I did not enjoy.
As you might know, my previous job was in the gambling industry. I hated that job because it was stressful and because it brought me a great deal of shame. During one particularly stressful stretch of time, I took a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to work with me every day, and I ate it at my desk. The PB&J is not a sandwich I like, but I ate it for lunch anyway. On some days, I couldn't even finish it. I probably knew that I would enjoy my day more if I would just take something different for lunch and eat in the break room, but, for some reason, I didn't even want to enjoy my day. I hated my situation, and I didn't want to do anything to make it more tolerable.
I find it beautifully ironic that Zevon spoke of mindfully eating and enjoying a food named for someone who sought to eat less mindfully.
Ever since I've started writing regularly, I've found myself at sandwich shops several times a week, accompanied by either my laptop or whatever book I've been reading. The fare of such restaurants allows me to eat while reading or writing, and the wireless Internet access they usually offer is an added convenience. That said, I've eaten countless sandwiches without enjoying them because I was so engrossed in whatever I was doing while eating. Though I benefited from the nutritional value of these sandwiches, I still feel that they somehow went to waste.
You've probably figured out that Warren Zevon's comment about sandwiches was not really about sandwiches but rather about life in general. Basically, Zevon was saying that we should savor every blessing life has to offer, even if it is something as simple and ordinary as a sandwich.
I think that many of us suffer from a lack of mindfulness. Life passes us by because mentally we're a million miles away from wherever we happen to be physically. We're not fully present in what we're doing because we're multitasking or because we're thinking about what we have to do next or what we would rather be doing. We overcommit ourselves, and we end up rushing through one activity so that we can hurry off to the next activity and rush through that one as well. We ignore the world around us because we spend so much time looking at our phones.
As the work week draws to an end, people like to proclaim, "Thank God it's Friday!" Many of us hate Mondays because it marks the beginning of the work week and the obligations that come with it, but we love Fridays because we will soon have time to do what we want to do as opposed to what we are expected to do. What we fail to realize is that on Monday we have four more days of life ahead of us than we do on Friday. We're wishing our lives away by waiting for the weekend! We need to stop waiting for our work to be completed to start enjoying life and find ways to enjoy life in the midst of our work.
Financial guru Dave Ramsey is quoted as advising people to "tell every penny where to go." What if we were just as intentional in regards to how we use our time? After all, time is more precious than money: though we can trade time for money, we cannot reverse the transaction. What if we had a purpose for each second of the day or at least tried to enjoy every second?
Lately, I've been taking a cue from Warren Zevon and trying to live my life a little more mindfully, starting with when I eat. Sometimes I put my books and my computer away and simply enjoy my meal. At other times, when I'm doing something else while I eat, I try to remember to pause, chew my food well, and savor the taste. I'm hoping that practicing mindfulness while I eat will help me to become more mindful at other times. Life is a gift, and it would be a shame not to enjoy this precious gift to the fullest.
The next time you eat a sandwich, dear reader, I hope that you remember to slow down and enjoy your meal - and your life - a little more fully. Life is too short not to enjoy good sandwiches.
Notes:
- "Sandwich History." What's Cooking America.
- Wikipedia: "Sandwich"
- Robert Deis. "Enjoy Every Sandwich." This Day in Quotes, 10/30/2014.
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