A few weeks back on date night I ordered a drink. I was in one of those indecisive moods and eventually just made a choice. Any choice. As soon as the waiter walked away I knew it was a bad choice. I was right. That particular gin and tonic was terrible. Ugh. I’ll just grin and bear it, I thought. So I took another sip and then another, trying to forget each nasty sip and agonizing over the next one. Why was I doing this? Just order a fucking glass of wine and keep moving, Legra. There’s nothing wrong with moving on.
I once read an article that talked about how to find your purpose. (No doubt an article in O! Magazine) Years later this is the one thing I remember: Write down a couple of ideas that might suit you and then try one. If it doesn’t suit you, cross it out, move to the next, and try a new one. Simple, yes? Well then why do we get stuck on the lousy gin and tonics?
We, at least, I, get stuck in something and feeling like I need to see it through. I do it with books and movies and food; I do it in life. I have to finish “this” because I already started it as if beginning a journey automatically means there has to be a destination. In the process of forcing it, I hate the taste and the smell. The movie annoys me. I count the pages left in the book like tick marks in a jail cell.
Typically, I’d ping pong the idea of the next one back and forth until ultimately so much time had passed that I would have drank the drink and been miserable doing so. And if every sip of that gin and tonic was a metaphor for life, it would have been that I was sitting there trying to get through it without really savoring it. I was forcing something that brought me no enjoyment. Worst of all, I was gagging on life, waiting for the next one. The difference obviously being that life can’t be ordered a next time.
So this time I moved on. The gin and tonic would go to waste – as would my money – but I wouldn’t spend a another second choking on mediocrity. I politely told the waiter that I didn’t like the drink and to please bring me a glass of white wine. With ice. Just how I like it.
That frosty little glass of wine taught me that there is nothing wrong with moving on. If something leaves a bad taste in your mouth, stop sipping that shit and order a fresh start. Because there is no next round in life and definitely no need to drink crappy gin and tonics.
Drinking the Whole Bottle
I’ve had some pretty good GTs but this one was down right 😝
Drinking the Whole Bottle
Drinking provides me with a lot of revelations but sometimes I can’t remember the revelation after. Hahahaha. Thank you so much for stopping by and reading 🙂 Glad you liked it.
Drinking the Whole Bottle
Riiiight?! It’s something I feel like I do a lot and there’s no room for it. Move on. Let go. Find something that sets your heart on fire. Even if it is just a glass of wine.
Katie
Oh I do that with books! I read one and I don’t get into it but then I force myself to finish before the next one. Gotta stop worrying about that
westviewroots
I love when drinking provides profound life revelations! Love your writing style!
Annette
I can so relate. Gin and tonic is nasty. I drank it also. But it only got me once. I have remembered it ever since and know now to order it again.
Riselle
amwn to this. Funny enough I had a similar experience with Gin and Tonic. What an awful drink. Still I drank it, like a good girl. Could hear my mother telling me about the poor kids in Africa and never to waste anything. Don’t think the kids in Africa would have been drinking gin and tonic or any kind of alcohol anyway. It gave me the buzz but with no pleasure whatsoever. Next time I’ll flush it. Fuck what my mama told me.