This is less about how good you are of a cook and more about how you treat yourself. I love mornings. It is sacred time for me to take care of myself before I tackle the business of the day. After I shower and brush my teeth, the first thing I always try to do is to cook myself a proper breakfast.
Emphasis on COOK.
Not buy, not grab something on the go. But cook.
Yes. It’s more time-consuming. More cumbersome. Not only do I have to prep the food, I also need to wash the dishes afterwards. Like most, I just want to grab something quick and get on with it. But there’s something deeper and more essential about cooking a good breakfast that I’ve come to discover as I’ve graduated from pop tarts and ego waffles to perfect sunny side up eggs, grilled sausages, and perfectly buttered toast.
This “deeper something” is the idea of giving yourself a gift and how that benefits your self-image. I enjoy cooking myself a good breakfast because I see myself as someone worthy of being taken care of, even if it means something as simple as eating a proper breakfast. Now, this might sound narcissistic. And perhaps it is, but it comes from decades of doing the exact opposite. Eating sugary cereals. Bagels smothered in cream cheese. You name it. I’ve done it. Coca-Cola in the mornings was a guilty pleasure that I (thankfully) no longer indulge in.
I think little things like cooking breakfast is important because, like making your bed in the mornings, brushing your teeth, and even going on a morning run, it’s you having a conversation with yourself in the form of a ritual. It’s you saying to yourself, I care about you, therefore I will cook you a good breakfast with perfect eggs. It’s you saying to yourself, I understand you have a long day ahead of you, let’s not get into it without a good solid start.
Maybe it’s doing too much. And I’m sure, most of us really just don’t have that kind of time. But I think it’s a wonderful gift to be able to give yourself every once in a while just to remind ourselves of our self-worth. So cook yourself a good breakfast. You deserve it.
by Jason Lam