Chicken Nuggets

It's your birthday/anniversary/promotion dinner. You're going to a famous/favorite restaurant. You know exactly what you're going to get: a big, fat juicy steak (for my vegetarian friends...I have no idea what the equivalent would be), with all the trimmings. You can practically taste it; it's going to melt like butter on your tongue, bursting with flavor and juiciness. You arrive and you don't even look at the menu because you're getting the muthaf*ckin' steak! You and your guest(s) are chit-chatting, sipping on your festive libations, when the waiter comes over to your table. S/he puts the plate on the table, removes the cover and presents to you the dinner you've been waiting for all night...a plate full of chicken nuggets. Although you've been salivating for steak, you shrug your shoulders, turn to the waiter and calmly ask for a side of honey mustard/barbeque sauce/ketchup and dig into those nuggets.

Don't get me wrong; chicken nuggets are good all on their own. You add a couple of dipping sauces, a small soda and a side of fries, you've got yourself a filling meal. But compared to steak? Not so much. While chicken nuggets may fill you up, they are not satisfying and will not take away the craving for steak. How many of us are will to accept chicken nuggets in lieu of the steak we really want?

While I intended to use this analogy primarily for relationships, if you think about it, it really applies to most things in our lives. It is the belief that we have to settle for things in our lives. We may be able to identify the things we want, but what we have right now is fine, because we know how to make do. We can make do with our jobs, our living situation, our partners, our friend's behavior...fill in the blank and we'll make do.

Is it wrong to settle? No, there is an element of settling that's inherent to the human condition. We can't have everything we want, when we want it, all the time. I don't even know if we have the capacity to recognize if we did have everything we wanted. Even Oprah is trying to figure out ways she can make more money. However, many of us settle because of fear and sometimes it's just plain easier. In some situations, I'd much rather have chicken nuggets than nothing. Yet, deep down, I know that I'll never be fully satisfied because I know there's a tasty steak out there with my name on it (dripping with butter and a side of garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus). And I want it.

Sh*t, I deserve it.

Here's the best part; once you have steak, it's almost impossible to go back to chicken nuggets. Not only do they not taste as good, you just won't be able to stomach them. They won't even fill a basic need and you will learn to go without until you get that steak. And when you do get it, it will be the best thing you've ever had.