OF TREES AND FOREST
One of the distinct advantages of being taught by my mother the virtues of hard work and perseverance at an early age was that I generally stayed away from all sorts of vices. By making me focus on the virtues of earning your keep and helping me develop a strong work ethic when I was young, my mother set me on a path toward entrepreneurship. And I think that is also the reason why I have never entertained the notion of retirement. I simply cannot imagine myself not working. The day I retire to a life of not doing what I have been doing all my life is probably the day I die.
I have generally stayed away from the usual vices young people wallow in. I have never entertained the thought of doing illegal drugs. Never. Not even marijuana. Despite peer pressures when I was young, that is something I stayed away from. I have also never smoked in my life. Never even tried.
But one might ask, surely you must have at least one vice? No one is perfect. As Abraham Lincoln once said: “It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.”
One of what I would call pleasant addictions or pleasurable vices is coffee. I usually drink at least four cups per day. I cannot start my day without a good cup of Joe. Even with my hyperacidity acting up and people telling me to switch non-coffee alternatives, I just cannot do it. This “addiction” started rather early and it was my Nanay Curing who introduced me to this glorious habit.
I have mentioned many times that when I was just a young boy I would wake up near midnight so I can help my mother sell shrimps and fish in the market. Sometimes my mother would make nilagang kape at home and we will share a cup of coffee before heading out. There were times when we would have coffee there in Divisoria as we prepare our little stall to welcome the early customers. It was sort of a ritual that I guess stayed with me. Even when I was already an entrepreneur, I would always have coffee early in the morning and throughout the day. I believe the Scottish jurist Sir James Mackintosh when he wrote, “The powers of a man’s mind are directly proportioned to the quantity of coffee he drinks.”
I also drink the occasional liquor. I love whisky and cognac, and I like them neat. When I first tasted whisky all I tasted was the harsh, alcohol taste — probably because it was not a good bottle. But later on in life I have learned to appreciate the beauty of a good glass of single malt scotch. I like the complexity of flavors that scotch offers. Throughout the years, after tasting many bottles — some cheap, some expensive — I have learned to enjoy the different aromas, textures and character of this drink which originally meant “water of life.”
I also like cognac for basically the same reasons. I love the ritual of enjoying the drink, its aroma, its mouthfeel and its flavor. In all three drinks — coffee, whisky and cognac — the most important thing is time. Take your time drinking them. Do not rush. These are the things that you can only truly enjoy when you are patient and you take the time.
Guilty pleasures or harmless addictions are good for you. They are like vacations for your brain. They relieve stress and bring you positive emotions. It is all about balance. One glass of a good single malt that is enjoyed for a long time is good for you but binge drinking to the point of becoming an alcoholic is not.
Guilty pleasures are rewards for yourself after a long day. It does not have to be whisky or cognac. It could be having a burger late night or a decadent dessert after a nice meal. It could be a leisurely long bath as a way to unwind or maybe watching a couple of episodes of your favorite K-drama. Or in my case, mooncake from Far Eastern and that large delicious siopao from Masuki, both in Binondo. Sometimes you just need satisfy your cravings instead of depriving yourself or feeling guilty.
In fact, maybe we should stop calling it guilty pleasures. We should never feel guilty about things we deserve and things that make us happy. How about you, what is your pleasurable vice?
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