Day 41: As We Dance To The Masochism Tango

I swear I must be a masochist. I always seem to be either finding myself in or putting myself into situations that will test my resolve to stay on the PCP. So far there has been: camping, free ice cream day, a wedding, a weekend in a cabin, and the state fair. Tomorrow, two more will be added to the list.

Tonight I have just finished making a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting to bring to a baby shower tomorrow at work. Food days at work are always a dangerous thing and my desk is next to the table they use to put all the food! Sometimes I wish they could move my desk to another location. Unfortunately, there is no other location so I'll have to rely on willpower.

Tomorrow evening a gang of us are going to a drive-in to see a couple movies. Drive-in food is just slightly a step above state fair food and a step below fast food. However, the smell is in the air and you can't always escape from it.

At least I know how to handle a portion of the food out there. When I became a vegetarian I had to face a number of months where the smell of cooked meat still enticed me. Heck, it's been almost two years and there are moments when barbecue something or other still triggers a response from my tastebuds.

Being on the PCP isn't so much a different process than becoming a vegetarian. In many ways they're the same—learning how to live in a whole new way and overcoming some pre-conceived notions that have been drilled into us.

When I went veggie, I face much opposition and questioning from people. In almost all cases, the viewpoint was that I would get deathly ill because I wasn't eating meat. I got the same type of response when I came out. Being gay meant that I was going to get sick and die. People seem to have the same reaction with this program, as Melanie experienced. Heaven forbid someone venture out of the public conscientiousness "comfort zone"!

So off I'll go with my little bag packed with PCP-friendly foods, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Some may think that I am a masochist by placing myself in situations that will "torture" me. I view myself more of an explorer, traveling to places others won't dare and making myself a stronger individual because of it.