Temptation

 "I can resist everything except temptation."

---Oscar Wilde

Temptation is a funny concept. There's a belief that temptation, of any kind, is bad. It's some shadowy emotion, leading you to the dark side, drawing you away from everything good, and on to a path of destruction and despair. Honestly though, is every temptation such a big, fat, hairy deal? Aren't we faced with small temptations every day, that, really won't kill us, but probably don't do us any good either? 

Some will tell you that willpower is the solution. That you just have to be strong enough to resist some urges. Well, I agree that it takes a strong person to turn away from something that appears to be shiny and happy and fun. Not everyone can do that. Large issues like addiction, alcohol abuse, and risky behavior are extremely hard to kick for millions. To those who fight the good fight every day to stay clean, sober, and safe, my heart is with you. You're all heroes, even when you slip up. 

That leaves the smaller temptations that we all come across every day. The bag of chips. The candy bar. The pair of red shoes that look so good, and so what if you already have lots of red shoes, you don't have THESE red shoes and…OK, wait, that's just me. Still, we all have something that maybe isn't the best choice, but darn it, it's what we want. Now!

I suppose we could blame the pandemic. Many of us have been shut up in the house, stuck on Zoom meetings. Kids are missing school, camp, and milestones like graduations and proms. Businesses are closed, or severely limited in capacity, so we can't gather as we used to do, socializing over a Bloody or a cup of chowder. There are sports on TV, but we can't go see a game live. Concerts are over unless you count Keytar Bear at Park St in Boston. It's been a long haul, hasn't it? One would think that when bars were closed, clubs were shuttered, and restaurants were left empty, that the temptation to party and overdo would be gone, right? 

Not so much. 

In my house, I've still managed to fall into temptation, and I'm not alone in that. When you're all bummed out about a canceled vacation or a postponed party, it's easy to say, "Why shouldn't I bake three dozen brownies; I deserve something fun, right?" The thing is, those three dozen brownies aren't going to the breakroom at work or a neighborhood potluck. They're going to sit on your kitchen counter and mock you, incessantly, until you have to end them. With a big glass of milk, while binge-watching some Real Housewives. Hey, I don't make the rules, OK? But this is what will happen, if not with brownies and bad television, with something else, like online shopping late at night, or annoying people on social media just because you're spoiling for a fight. Don't deny it; don't say, "Oh, not me." Yes, you, me, and just about everyone else I know has come up against some kind of temptation over these last few months. 

My brownies never look this good, but they go down well

It's not all about the virus and being cooped up, though. I've never been able to keep potato chips in my house. Not any kind of chips. For years, I would buy the cheap chips, the ones that were all broken and dry, thinking "OK, if I buy these, I will have a few with my sandwich, but I won't go overboard." Oh, the lies we tell ourselves. My house is a no-chip zone. Except for last week, and well…we are not going to discuss that. Yes, denial is the twin sister of temptation, and both of those chicks need to go find someone else to peck at.

I suppose chips are not the worst thing to be powerless against, but still, it does annoy me that a soggy bag of fried starch is almost like Kryptonite was for Superman. I don't want to brag, but I've handled bigger crises than a bag of Ruffles and I'm still standing. I have to think that giving in, once in a while, isn't the end of the world. There have been days when I believed everyone needed a high five. To the face. With a hockey stick. I was able to resist that temptation, every time. So, is a bag of chips really so bad? Of course not. 

Now and then, something has to give. No one can hold out 100% of the time against every challenge. My daughter is very good at keeping me on the right track. If she is in the grocery store with me, the Ruffles do not wind up in our cart. Neither do the Tate's chocolate chip cookies. She's my favorite buzzkill. She also will keep me from steering the car into the drive-thru for Mickey Ds French fries, another disciplinary failure of mine…most of the time that is. Every so often, I get the fries. I order the shoes. I buy the chips (and the cookies too) because they're delicious. Life is tough, so, if some small, but guilty pleasure is tugging at you, and it won't ruin your life, your bank account, or your health? Go for it.