On Monday morning, I made my usual trip to McDonald’s for my daily dose of iced tea. The gal at the window was new, with a pleasant smile and warm personality. “Unsweet iced tea,” she said as she handed me my order. I smiled, thanked her, and wished her a pleasant day.

It wasn’t until I arrived at work that I realized that she had mistakenly given me a 30 ounce Styrofoam cup of sweet tea. One sip was all it took. It was freshly brewed, deliciously sweet, and likely one of the best cups of sweet tea I had ever been given. I was immediately transported back in time by fifty-five years.

Iced tea has been my beverage of choice since age five. My mother always had a fresh pot on the kitchen table waiting for consumption during breaks from backyard play. Loaded with sugar, mom’s sweet tea was a specialty in our home and as close to heaven as this five-year-old could possibly get.  From sunup to sundown, sweet tea was served throughout the day, capped by the final 16 ounce Tupperware tumbler serving shared with my dad on the front porch before bed.

From this one sip, an honest mistake became a huge temptation with all the trappings from fond childhood memories. My mom has been gone for decades, but suddenly she was present, represented by an innocent Styrofoam cup.

It took me years to move from sweet tea to the unsweetened variety. I began by moving away from sugar, first to artificial sweeteners and then to plain tea. I am now a tea purist with nothing in the glass except tea and ice.

I sat the dreaded drink on my bookcase shelf, while in my mind; I entertained ideas for consuming it without the guilt.

I could dilute it with unsweet tea. That wouldn’t be so bad.

I could cut calories elsewhere, to “even out” the calories in the end.

When was the last time you had sweet tea, Deb? Don’t you deserve to have it just this once?

It’s only one cup of sweet tea. What’s the harm?

Your office door is closed. I won’t tell if you won’t.

From the top of the shelf, the Styrofoam cup of sweet tea seemed to leer at me, grinning from bottom to straw.

Meditation

Thoughts can certainly be a mixed bag of rationalization and compromise when allowed to run amuck. Unwanted situations and events can place us at risk for choices based on emotion, rather than reason and balance. Yet, there is power in pause, the practice of making choices that are considered rather than impulsive.

Room can be made for indulgences if the choice is made with forethought and attention to balance.  I could have opted for the tea. But, I thought about the grueling 45-minute workout I had completed earlier in the morning. I simply did not want to spend that many calories on sweet tea at the expense of other life possibilities.

Choices matter. Balance matters even more.

I took a final sweet sip, sighed, and dumped the entire drink in the sink.

All things considered, it is better to have less sugar in substances and more substance in life.