Eat More Ekmek Kadayıfı!

Happy New Year again…Did you make any new years resolutions?  I didn’t.  I have an ongoing list of things I need and want to accomplish, but that seed was planted long before fireworks shot of the Burj Khalifa.

I am starting to wonder if one reason people feel that the New Year is over-rated has anything to do with all the promotion of resolutions and what you must and must not do.  Loose weight, be happy, do this, do that…it’s a lot of pressure to fit into someone else’s box.  Maybe psychologically for some, resolutions give people a little help as a starting point.  However, I still think there is a lot of pressure and incorrect messages in the media about what should or should not happen in someone’s New Year.

Just this morning I received my university’s alumni magazine and the whole thing was a focus on how to be happy in 2012.  Was I not happy before?  Sure everyone has his or her day, but in general I think I am happy.  Despite all the craziness, good and bad, I am content.  I can’t help but wonder if people see these publications and read them and conclude that they are unhappy when maybe they actually weren’t in the first place?  It’s like the study done years ago that concluded that as soon as young women started looking at fashion magazines, their self-esteem immediately dropped.  They suddenly think they are overweight or ugly.  This is not true.

And it is because of such pressures that I loathe the most common resolution I hear from people – to loose weight.  And it is not just from women.  It often starts with an unrealistic expectation - a benchmark famous person.  Famous people spend a lot of time exercising and managing their physical appearance because a great deal of their job is based on how they look.   If they are not working on something, that is what they do.  It is their job and that is fine, but not always realistic for us who do not have time to exercise 5 hours a day.  It is possible, but not easy for sure.

Even though most famous people are already beautiful to start with, they still push limits or still try to fit into someone else’s box.  I can see why they would loose site when most people around them are constantly critical of how they look.  That coupled with the horrible media that picks apart celebrities, it is painful to observe sometimes.

I don’t think this is exclusive to any one culture, unfortunately.  I am not sure if there is a place where you are worse off.  For me all of these contribute to the constant increase in plastic surgery.  Even though the economy might be bad, we may be hard pressed to find any plastic surgeons who are hurting.  There is a lot of plastic surgery in the US obviously, Lebanese woman are known to seek a lot of plastic surgery, but yet South Korea has the highest rate of plastic surgery according to a reputable international plastic surgery organization.  As I know from working there, Turkey has its share too.  

Don’t get me wrong.  If you have something about yourself – a feature, a trait, a behavior that you do not like, by all means change it or improve yourself as you see fit.  Just be careful.  Too much of a good thing can be bad sometimes.  And do it because you want to, not because society wants you to, or that is the new norm or trend.  

Who am I to judge?  I hate to be judged and hate to judge people.  This isn’t about that.  If one of my friends came to me to tell me they were thinking to go through a drastic change with plastic surgery,  I would give them a big hug, tell them they are beautiful and then take them to eat the biggest ekmek kadayıfı in Istanbul. 

For those of you not Turkish, ekmek kadayıfı is one of the most amazing, and perhaps one of the most calorific desserts in Turkey.  It is bread drenched full of sugary syrup served with heavy cream on top.  It is sooo good.  It is so crazy sinful, I am not even sure I can find an American equivalent for analogy!  Best eaten while drinking çay.  You will not need to sweeten your tea.  The kadayıfı is so full of sugar it will stick to your teeth and go down with your tea.  I love it so much that I cannot believe I do not have a picture of it!  So here, I share one I found from the internet.

Picture from http://narince-narince.blogspot.com/

My point?  Well, there are many.  Most importantly, love yourself and accept yourself for whomever you are in whatever place in life you might be right now.  For 2012, before you make any rash decisions about your happiness, physical appearance, relationships or anything else for that matter, grab a trusted friend and go indulge in an ekmek kadayıfı or equivalent.  Enjoy it and be sure that you are much more beautiful and happy than you may care to admit.  No sharing of desserts allowed!

...ok, I am hungry now!