Siren Calls

This weeks challenge on The Spin Cycle is Temptation.  By my body volume one can see food is an obvious temptation for me.  Food is used any time I need to be soothed, rewarded, cajoled and even courted.  Husband brings me goodies if he meets someone for coffee knowing it will score brownie points for him.  And food is one of those two edged sword kind of temptations as one must have food to live.  Swearing off of food as I did cigarettes in 1995 is not an option.  It is just that at this point in life I do more living for food than food for living.

Losing my temper is a constant temptation for me.  It is so difficult for me to keep all of my emotions in check.  My mom is a bit queen of drama.  We joke she cries at supermarket openings.  She uses her temper as an intimidation tactic without even realizing it.  And this nut not only fell from that tree, but took root and grew even bigger.  My family, former co workers and friends will comment on a tone in my voice, an edge that makes them instantly uncomfortable.  The discomfort is a fear of the potential Mt. Janice eruption.  While it is better than years ago, Mt. Janice still has steam vent releases.  One as recent at just two weeks ago.

Not following through on promises or projects is a constant temptation to which I fall prey.  Right now I am self absorbed trying to get the 'box canyon' down to maybe the size of a small box ditch.  I have thank you notes to be written for all the help during the recent move, death of Husband's mom and all that surrounded those two nerve wracking weeks.  It is tempting to just let it go.  And there is the enclosure for the grandsons' bunk beds to make a fort. That will take some time, effort and room.  Room I do not have right now.

And that leads to the last two biggie temptations of my life.  Overspending and over decorating.  These two go hand in hand for me.  I always wanted a 'House Beautiful' kind of home.  Problem was/is I have a 'Salvation Army Store' income.  I am working so hard with this move to overcome this obsessive temptation.  We are selling off many of my prized possessions.  Possessions that have possessed me for too much of my life.  I am still fighting this battle of temptations.

In the early hours of this new day as I lay awake waiting for Husband to rouse from his night's sleep a thought came to me.   The thought, "What a first world problem to have.  Which set of china to eliminate?  Sell the Drexel Heritage 43 year old chairs?  Which silverplate trays to sell?"  The fact is the world average size of living quarters for a family of four is 10.5 feet x 10.5 feet.  Just over 100 square feet.  I/we have a storage room on the site of our new living quarters that is just a little smaller than that area.  It is stacked probably 9 feet high with extra decorations, memorabilia and gadgets.

As I unpack additional boxes I will be tempted to keep more of my precious pretties.  Will I be able to do as was the rich, young man was instructed to do almost 2,000 years ago?  "Go and sell all you have and give to the poor."


Oh, yes, in an earlier part of my life, sex was a Siren Call  And that's all I have to say about that.



Are you tempted to see to what siren calls others are prey?  Just join Gretchen at Second Blooming or Ginny at Lemon Drop Pie.