In my ever pursuing attempts to live a healthier lifestyle, sometimes I break away from my routine of Cocoa Puffs in the morning and bust out a bowl of oatmeal. This was one of those mornings.
I don’t usually think much about my oatmeal, but my shot of espresso may have helped me get some type of revelation. Life is like Oatmeal.
1. 
Sticky. Often times life doesn’t stay within the boundaries we try to set up. When we dream and plan, we put into place an ideal world of which we wish to see take place. But the clumpy events, and messy relationships all around us tend to grab ahold of our spoon fed life, creating a sticky situation when our plans fall apart. It’d be so much easier if our spoon only picked up the pieces that we told it too. Instead those sticky oats grab on beneath and beside, clinging on for dear life, until the spoon is just over your lap or keyboard, and splat. You got a sticky mess. Life can be going along just perfect, but then we introduce other people into the picture, and it ruins our ‘ideal’ plans. Unless we can get to the underlying fact that Life is Sticky. It’s supposed to be. Our lives are sticky messes that others deal with too. And all of us fall incredibly short of the perfection of God.
2. Bland or Sweet. Oatmeal in itself is quite blah. It’s only when you stir in some honey, brown sugar, or other natural sugary substance that it becomes a joy to eat. My life, I’ve found, if left to wander, is quite bland. It’s only when I add interesting people, events, thoughts, obstacles, celebrations, etc.. that my life begins to have a sweet flavor to it. I have to add the natural sugary ingredients. Like: Peace- Patience- Kindness- Hope- Laughter- Love. All of a sudden, my overly blah life becomes interesting.
3. Substance. Oatmeal is great for filling a person up and holding them over until the next meal. It’s crazy amount of fiber also helps clean out the system! But, one bite doesn’t do it. And only addressing the areas of my life that need substance every now and then won’t produce a healthy life. Just as you have to put one spoonful in your mouth, you have to force yourself to lower it to the bowl and take another bite. Success in life doesn’t just happen. But when I take the daily routine of growing myself through reading, thinking, exercise, planning and loving, I find that my life continues to have substance. When I stop, hunger sets in earlier than it should, and hunger only breeds discontent.
My thoughts on Life being like Oatmeal.