The best thing I learned from the chocolate Advent calendars I had every year as a child was the joy of doling out pleasure bit by bit. The first couple years I was allowed to have it in my room, unsupervised, I admit: I pried open every one of those windows within a couple of days, stuffed the chocolate down my gullet, and then as a consequence had to spend the rest of December watching longingly as my smarter, more disciplined younger sister carefully punched out her tiny chocolatey treat every night after dinner. It didn’t totally cure me of my love of excess [hastily shoves nail polish collection out of view], but it did teach me early on that life is more often hard than not, and a little forethought in measuring out pleasure can go a long way to making every day a little sweeter.
Maximalist Mariners love excess, defeat spartan Angels 8-1
