Is Food the Anchor That Keeps Us From Breaking Away From the Destinies of Our Parents?

Summary

The author reflects on how food habits, inherited from parents, may influence one's life path and the pursuit of a better destiny beyond what is fated by birth.

Abstract

The article discusses the nuanced difference between fate and destiny, emphasizing that while fate is predetermined by circumstances like the socioeconomic status of one's parents, destiny is shaped by personal choices and actions. The author ponders whether the act of eating merely to survive, as opposed to enjoying diverse and flavorful meals, could be a factor inadvertently keeping them in a state of survival rather than thriving. They note that food habits are often passed down through generations, with these patterns potentially reinforcing cycles of scarcity, comfort, or unhealthy coping mechanisms. The author suggests that by consciously choosing to cultivate more enriching food experiences, one might positively influence their life's trajectory towards a more fulfilling destiny.

Opinions

The author believes that small daily habits, including food choices, have a significant impact on our lives, potentially shaping our destinies.
They acknowledge that while correlation does not imply causation, our habits can influence more than we typically consider.
The author observes a connection between their own well-being and the enjoyment of food, recalling that periods of life with good food and company were among the easiest.
They criticize the lack of effort in the food habits of their ancestors, describing these habits as bland, familiar, and repetitive, which contrasts with their vision of a good life.
The author emphasizes that our actions, not just our intentions, determine our destinies, and that settling for mediocrity ("It'll do") is not conducive to achieving abundance.
They recognize that inherited food paradigms, such as stockpiling due to past scarcity or using food and drink to escape problems, can have long-lasting effects on behavior and mindset.
The author advocates for focusing on positive dietary habits, like consuming a variety of vitamins and minerals, and making a deliberate effort to create exciting and inventive daily routines around food.
They resolve to incorporate more Spanish practice into their life by scheduling regular visits to Mexican or Peruvian restaurants in the new year, thus combining the enjoyment of food with language learning.

I wonder if changing this daily habit could change everything

Something that I like about the English language is that fate and destiny have different meanings. In learning Spanish, I found that both of these words translate to destino.*

Fate happens to you — you are born to rich, middle-class, or poor parents. Destiny is the path you choose to take — you achieve more than what your parents did or you don’t. (I hope someday to have enough Spanish skills to communicate this sort of distinction naturally, but that’s another story.)

What’s this got to do with food? Maybe I’m doing a lot of end-of-year reflecting, or maybe I’ve got a bit of the holiday blues. But lately, I’ve noticed my problems have been piling up, and I haven’t been enjoying great food like I did in the past.

Of course, as a trained statistician, I know correlation doesn’t always mean causation, but our small daily habits influence more than we like to think. If you don’t believe me, stop spending 4+ minutes a day brushing your teeth.

This week I started to wonder if I’m causing my own survivor mode status by eating to live. When I look back on life, some of my easiest eras involved good food and good friends. I resided quite comfortably inside of an Oscar Wilde quip.

When I think about the eating habits of my parents, and their parents, there’s a lot of lack of effort. Which I understand — adulting ain’t easy. But bland, familiar, and repetitive are not the cornerstone adjectives to a good life. Or at least, the good life that I want.

We walk our paths to our destinies every day, whether we intend to or not. Our destinies are not our intentions, but the consequences of our actions. “It’ll do” is not the action that will make big dreams tap the spring of abundance.

We all inherit different food paradigms from our parents. For some people, scarcity from The Great Depression lasted generations and now causes them to stock a year’s worth of pasta. For others, problems are forgotten about with wine. And even further, some people’s definition of “moderate” is 1L of soda every day.

For now, we can look at what we are doing right, like eating a variety of vitamins and minerals, and focus on continuing that trend in the future. Throughout the year, we can make the time to create a daily routine that’s flavorful, inventive, and exciting.

But in the meantime, I can at least schedule a weekly outing to a Mexican or Peruvian restaurant in the new year, and practice my Spanish while I’m at it.

*An edit the day after: Ask and ye shall receive! Doing some Spanish practice today and realized I forgot about the word azar, which has more to do with chance and fate.