No More Bagels

It came as a shock but not really as any surprise.  “No more bagels.”  After the doctor said those words things were a blur as I began to imagine what it would be like.  No more bagels.  No more stops for coffee and bagels with my morning Psalms.  No more visits to my favorite stop on the way to work.  How could I not eat bagels?  It had become so much of my morning routine; a part of my identity.  What would life be like without bagels?  Was there life after bagels?

Yet, I could not argue with the cold hard facts of the lab reports.  The numbers were clear.  It was time for a change in my diet and the bagels were to be the first and most drastic change among many that I would have to make to move toward better health.

Reluctantly, I sat with my wife and began to search for ways to pursue the changes the doctor had advised in my diet.  I saw the names of food I had never eaten in my life.  I saw names of food I did not even recognize.  Now I was supposed to eat this instead of bagels.  Responding to Dianne’s positive lead and enthusiasm there was a glimmer of hope.  I would try to eat it, especially after the amount of time and energy she was putting in to research and shopping and preparing new foods, all so I would have a healthier diet. 

It was not bad.  In fact, it was surprisingly good.  I could eat fruit and vegetables and not starve.  I could even enjoy these new foods.  But the most surprising part was the impact it had on my body.  I had more energy and felt better than I had felt for years.  Could it really be making this big a difference so quickly?

I found new places to stop for my morning Psalms.  There were parks and stops along the Mississippi River that afforded a welcoming setting for gaining the spiritual focus that would be necessary for the day.  I had broken out of the confines of the coffee shop.

The discovery of these new foods and new sanctuaries would never have been made as long as I had a bagel in my hand.  It proved what I had been telling others about change may just be on the right track.  I had felt the pain of change but when I moved past the frozen paralysis of the shock there was a lot to discover.  Letting go of what had been my reality was necessary to discover what awaited me.  Once I accepted the inevitable change and got through the pain there were new possibilities waiting. 

Why is it so difficult to accept change, so difficult to let go, so difficult to trust that we will be alright even if things are not what we want them to be?  After all, we have all experienced change before and are certain to face more change.  When change comes, and it will, we have the choice of resisting it or embracing it and finding a new way to engage in life as it has come to be.

Who knows what we will find if we but venture into the change courageously?  One thing for sure, there is life after bagels!