by Meena Menezes

Created on: August 07, 2008

The taste of humble pie

At a recent lunch, the lady sitting next to me, must have realised I didn't relish the food, since I was just toying with it.

"I would give an arm and a leg to be able to eat that!" she blurted out.

During the course of our conversation I found out that she suffers from a severe medical condition whereby her body rejects everything she eats.

So even if she nibbles on anything, within 10 minutes she will excuse herself and rush to the washroom to vomit.

The only way she is being kept alive is through nutrients that are fed into her body every night, through a tube attached to her stomach, which is a 14-hour process.

The sad part is that while she craves to eat like everyone else does and is constantly hungry, she can't.

Frustrated at times, she decides to throw caution to the wind and gives in to her cravings, only to suffer the consequences later.

Doctors say there is no cure for her condition and she continues to try new medical breakthroughs, but with no success yet.

It made me feel so guilty and to say that I was ashamed is an understatement. Needless to say, I ate the meal in front of me, with a new-found awareness, relished every morsel on my plate and suddenly it even tasted better than I had anticipated.

Her situation made me realise how most of us take the simple act of eating, so much for granted.

When hunger strikes, we are quick to scout the fridge for something to eat, junk food or otherwise, just anything to quell those hunger pangs. We don't have to always watch what we eat, we just do!

Maybe we really need to open our eyes wider to the reality around us. It is really not enough to simply nod in concern over pictures of children starving worldwide and then throw away leftovers and complain when food doesn't excite our taste buds, or when our favourite choice is not on the table.

For those of us who haven't, maybe it is time we showed some gratitude and considered ourselves blessed, not only for having food on our table, but being able to actually eat it, digest it and be healthy!

Complaining has become second nature to many of us. We are envious of our neighbor's new car, yet easily overlook the fact that we still have a car, which means we don't have to travel by bus or walk to get to places.

We complain about low incomes, but if it still helps you afford a safe roof over your head and decent meals, would you trade it for the living conditions that most construction laborers are forced to live in?

While we can say that's how human nature is, we need to rise above that and reinforce our gratitude in whatever way we can.

We are so occupied in our daily lives, working towards fulfilling dreams and ambitions that we have forgotten to appreciate and enjoy what we already have.

How did we become so thoughtless?

It reminds me of a quote I came across recently:

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things."

So before you turn your nose up at food you don't like, or compare yourself to someone else, just be grateful for what you have, no matter how little it might seem.

There are many who would give an arm and leg for just a taste of the pie!

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