The Spice Believes in You

Over the years, I've used "the spice" to describe some of the ways that I view life. I tell people that I'm "all about the spice" or that I "live for the spice", and even the kitchen towels in our apartment say "live life with a little spice". Over the years, the spice is something that I knew that I believed with my mind. It wasn't until today, however, that I believed it with my heart.

I was sent out of town for work this week, and today was the final day of the project. It was a pretty long week, but the project went well overall. So, I started hyping myself up for a nice dinner before my flight back home. Thinking back to when I was here a few months ago, I recalled some ~yummy~ biryani from a nearby restaurant, so I figured I'd go there again today as a "treat yo'self". Initially, I was going to call ahead and take the food back to the hotel, but in the end I just decided to drive there and eat inside. So I hopped in my rental car, threw on some jams, and drove towards the restaurant.

I pulled into the parking lot feeling pretty hyped about this ~yummy~ biryani. Sometimes in life though, having high expectations leads to heavy disappointment, just like when I pulled up to the restaurant and found out that it has been closed down for good. The hype that I had for this ~yummy~ biryani cracked like a stick of cinnamon being used for garam masala.

All hope was not lost, however. There was another Indian restaurant nearby that also served biryani. I wasn't sure if the biryani would be available (they weren't serving it a few days ago) or how ~yummy~ it would be, but I didn't have too many options. So I hopped in my rental car, threw on some jams, and drove towards the restaurant.

I sat down at the second restaurant and looked over the menu. The biryani was listed there, so I told the waiter that I would like to order some. He told me that they didn't have the biryani available today. This time, the hype I had for some ~yummy~ biryani broke into a thousand pieces, just like garam masala getting ground up into tiny particles. I was devastated. Searching for something else in the menu, I decided to settle for the restaurant's "Special Chicken Curry". I didn't have high expectations for it, but I needed to accept that I wasn't getting ~yummy~ biryani today. Just before leaving, the waiter asked me if I wanted any type of bread to go with the chicken curry. I didn't realize it in the moment, but this was a critical question. In my yolo ways, I briefly glanced at the menu and ordered some chilli naan.

After a few minutes, the staff brought my food to the table. I knew it wasn't the ~yummy~ biryani I had been craving, but I had to admit that it looked pretty good. I took a piece of chilli naan, spooned some chicken into my plate, and took the first byte.

The first byte of a meal often sets the tone for how the rest of the meal will go. If it tastes ok, you might just eat it quickly and not think about it too much. If it tastes good, you enjoy the meal for what it is, but eventually you will move on. Sometimes, however, you take the first byte and you are S H O O K. That was me when I took the first byte of this chilli naan/special chicken curry.

The chilli naan was truly delicious. It was also quite spicy (I almost broke a sweat lol), but though I didn't deserve it, it was the spice-up call that I needed. The chilli naan/special chicken curry was ~yummy~ enough to make me forget about the estranged biryani and the corresponding ground garam masala hype. It's not often that I smash on food, but I thoroughly enjoyed those 4 slices of chilli naan and the chicken curry and the bowl of rice.

While I had high hopes for the ~yummy~ biryani, the chilli naan/special chicken curry turned out to be a ~yummy~ meal itself. Even though I had no chill about my biryani woes, the chilli naan put the CHILL in CHILLi and gave me the chill that I needed. Honestly, the spice took me to a place where I could enjoy the ~yummy~ vibes ("yibes" as they say).

The lesson I learned here is that sometimes things don't always go as planned. But that doesn't mean that the rest of the day can't still be ~yummy~. To all those that are struggling today, I encourage you to think about the spice not only with your mind but also with your heart. Believe in the spice, because the spice believes in you 💜💜