Power of Substitution

Several blogs ago I got into some thoughts about seltzer. Above is the pictorial evidence that seltzer has been functioning as a substitute for beer. Proof is in the pudding, or Record is in the Recycler. I probably should think about getting my own seltzer-making machine so I can save money and cut down on the plastic. For now, it is what it is. For the record, I still drink beer. But, when I am just thirsty and don't want to consume extra calories, I reach for the seltzer. It's got zing.

I have given myself permission to drink seltzer, as much as I want, 24-7. At $7 dollars a case for 24 12 ounce bottles, it is like popcorn. Saturday night seltzer.   

Some substitutes are awful. How about low fat cream cheese? How is it possible to have something that is supposed to be creamy be low fat? Like an obese person being anorexic. Or how about vegan bacon? Grossity gross. Look, if you are not going to eat the real thing, don't bother. I think turkey bacon is even unacceptable. Bacon comes from pigs, not soy or gobblers. Vegans seem to delight in self-abasement. Are you aware that the Apostle Paul tied Vegetarianism to the End of Time?  

I am not categorically against TV either, just stupid sitcoms, Bachelorette nonsense, and Crime Shows that delight in murder and mayhem--different episode, same tired story-line, in syndication. Game shows are Lame shows. Pat Sajak looks like one of those monkeys chained to an organ grinder. The money is too good to quit, but is comes at the price of existential meaning. The wheel of inanity, over and over and over again.

I watch programs on PBS and Netflix about interesting topics such as being a Screenwriter for films, like I did last night. Someone made the comment that in Hollywood, writers are down at the bottom of the Totem Pole. The writer corrected this and said , "No the writer is that part of the totem pole that is below ground in the dirt." Life as a writer, all glory. Starving artists. I was really inspired how good writers persevere through rough times, or as another writer put it, "You get kicked so much in the head that you take it until their legs get tired."

So, often when trying to defeat negative behaviors like drinking too much, eating too much, or watching too much brain-killing television, it is not always necessary to forgo all of the behaviors in that arena, just substituting something better within that behavior. Abstention is a hard road and necessary for some to travel. Yet, it is usually a more productive strategy to move over on the quality scale--and that will often diminish the quantity. Take potato chips. No nutritional value, stimulates hunger where the more you eat, the more you want. As paper onto a fire. Instead, eat a handful of almonds and be filled.

Time is a blank slate for all of us. What we do with the chalk of choice is up to us. We can either redeem the time or waste it. And substitution can be redemptive. And recyclable.