I made cookies. I thought it would help. I made Mocha chocolate chip cookies and Butterscotch chip cookies. They are both yummy, ridiculously so, but they didn’t comfort me like I wanted.
The Mocha chocolate chip ones were packed with caffeine and gave me a lovely “lie awake all night and think about how I have a lot to do” buzz but they didn’t really make me feel any better. Quite the opposite. I felt even more tired and in need of comfort the next morning.
The Butterscotch chip ones are fantastic, but once again all they did was add fluff to my already too fluffy self. I really didn’t feel any better after eating them either.
So I sit thinking, “Why? Why do we feel the need to comfort ourselves with food?” It’s not like it’s going to help. No one ever says, “I need comfort I think I’ll have something really healthy. Ooh a carrot!”
Nope, we go for the sugar and the fat and the salt. I think that we fool ourselves into thinking that we are going to feel better because they are “treats”. It is an illusion that we have sold ourselves that we are taking time for ourselves and treating ourselves right because we allowed ourselves a treat. When what we really need is a proper treat.
We need the peace and comfort of home and hearth. We need down time.
It’s okay to not win every race and to not be the only person who does everything. Or even, God forbid, we allow ourselves to NOT be the best or the busiest and realize that we are only human. We can’t do it all on our own. Those cookies are no replacement for REAL comfort: a hug from someone we love or giving ourselves permission to lie in bed in the morning and let the world take care of itself or to read a book without feeling guilty that you are not working. It’s okay, you know. It’s allowed.
So stop with the cookies and start with the peace.
adriana pridemore 
I totally agree with everything you said. I am a sugar addict and trying desperately to eat healthier. Been into comfort food for far too long but saying that….please will you bake me some cookies when I visit?? I dreamed of lie-ins and having time on my hands to do all the things I didn’t have time for when I was working but my retirement didn’t work out that way. I am constantly on the go and almost every day I am committed to something but just the other day I had a re-think and decided that I too had been neglecting my hobbies and “my” time, so the knitting box is out with all these half finished stuffed animals, I made a batch of rhubarb & ginger jam before my rhubarb went to seed and I cooked some good healthy meals for my freezer. I got my computer fixed today (again), it has been a beautiful sunny day and I am having strawberries & cream for dessert. All is well with the world today. Tomorrow is another day. Have a blessed day Aders xxx