I love food. Anyone who knows me, probably knows this about me. I’m also not very conventional in my food methods. If I invite you over for dinner – it will most likely be as a test subject to some idea I have. Lately, I have been exploring the amazing use of the mango. The mango – you ask? Why yes, dear friend! The Mango! The sweet juicy mango combined with chopped chillies, chopped onions and cilantro (coriander) with a bit of pork. The combination of mango with a bit of chicken, buttery prawn and basil. Not to mention a lovely mango sorbet with candied bacon. Or any fruit in food. I want to also emphasize, I enjoy cooking, but by no means for a crowd or numerous times a day.

I think a lot of people are burrowing their brows right now – but believe me – it’s delicious!

In food they refer to a bliss point. That is when the combination of sweet, salty, acidity and/or fat all just reaches a level of a perfect taste in a bite for a person. I daydream of creating a perfect bite size magic combining all the sensory pallets in one little bite – but I’m getting distracted again.

Where I live, I have slim pickings when it comes to food and zero pickings when it comes to restaurants. So, I have to try and spice things up – metaphorically of course.

And now you wonder – Ansoons – where are you going with all of this – did you forget to eat? And I can confidently tell you that I can easily forget a lot of things – but never to eat.

I look at life as a combination of our sensory profiles. The 5 basic ones – sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. For the perfect bite – we have to combine all of these in their own perfect amount (for me) with a touch of spicy.

Of course life is like a plate of bliss-point food! 😊

Two people can go through very similar life experience in a year. Bad news at work, bad news on a personal level and sprinkles of unfortunate events. One person can fall apart, complain about everything; and the other person can have moments of  ’eh’ and still smile despite it all.

We all know how refreshing it is to be around genuine positive people. Like a breath of fresh air or a sense of calm. But where do we personally fit into this scale?

Sometimes I think we really do try to keep a positive attitude in most circumstances. It’s just that it’s not necessarily from a genuine place. Fake it until you make it, right?

I can’t speak for other people, but I pick up on ingenuity very easily. It’s that moment of raw emotion, before the mask comes on.

You can laugh and play and act like everything is alright, but it’s those moments that it’s just you and your thoughts where you revert to your true feelings. If my thoughts are only on the bitterness of life – that will be all I am tasting.

For reasons that I am yet to know and understand – we all have a level of comfort in our own pity parties. I don’t think we necessarily think bad thoughts when we are in that space, but we focus on what is unfair; what is stacked against us; what we want, but don’t have and how other people affect us.

A true positive attitude, the best way I can explain it, sounds something like this: “I acknowledge that whatever I’m going through is inconvenient or challenging or painful. However – this too shall pass and my life is bigger and more than this. I also have a million tiny little things that I am truly grateful for and would rather focus on that.” And it’s a continuous choice.

If we grumble when small things don’t go our way – we are most definitely going to groan when the challenges get worse. And we tend to think that no one understands. Surely, we are the only people in our situation? If only they can change or make me happy? As if there is not a whole world of people with their own mango salsa’s out there.

Of course, we have a right to feel the way we feel. Of course, we have a right to break down every now and again. To get upset, angry, disappointed and tired. But is that all you are offering to those around you? Dry meat with soft potato and a slice of bitter lemon? I can’t think of anyone finding it appealing…

Don’t just think of what other people around you can bring to your table. What can you offer on a daily basis?

Grab your picnic blankets, backpacks and bring your own bit of tasty joy wherever you are – despite everything going on in your life. Life is a combination of flavours, but if you manage to add enough of the good with the bad or mundane – we all can have daily bites of bliss.

Enjoy your week friends!