Eat all the RED SLAW!

This post is going to be a little sideways…but HEY, I’m a little sideways!

I was soo excited for 4th of July! And it was actually the best one we've had in quite a while! 

Our friends were coming over! They were bringing BBQ and banana pudding!

I wanted to contribute, so I made a vegetable plate and my favorite…RED SLAW!!!

Growing up, thats the only way you ate BBQ…with a side of red slaw and some hush puppies. Being the responsible adult that I am, I’ve been trying to cut carbs and didn’t want to carb overload all my friends. So I surpassed on the hush puppies and made red slaw instead!

I made a huge deal about it. I asked the entire world of Facebook for the best recipe. My mouth drooled as I bought all the ingredients. 

Not one time did I stop and think…”Oh wait…does everyone eat red slaw with their BBQ?”

I made it because I LOVED IT! I made it because it was tradition to eat red slaw with BBQ! I made it, like most cookouts, as a way to bring people together!

We spent hours at the pool, enjoying each others company, and trying not to let the “mid-afternoon nap” strike us! But even then…not once, did I ever think the red slaw wouldn’t be a hit with everyone!

I had this confidence built up. I made such huge deal about this slaw to myself! 

We all managed to wake up from our post-pool slumber and eat our 4th of July meal!

As I was making my plate, I felt the need to justify the reason we had slaw and gave everyone an “out” to not eat it!

“It’s what we do in Shelby”
“It’s ketchup based”
“I only eat it on BB!, I don’t like it by itself”

I heard myself giving all the excuses to why they aren’t eating it.

But in reality, I LOVED IT! I ate the SHIT out of it! I even made my own pork shoulder again tonight (July 5th) just so I could eat the slaw on my sandwich AGAIN!

And as I was eating my SECOND sandwich tonight, I wondered….

Why did I justify my reason for making the slaw?!

Why did I give some reasons why it would be bad?

Why did I apologize before anyone even ate it?

And I had an AH-HA moment! If I’m enjoying and doing what I LOVE, then why do I care if anyone or everyone hates it. I still loved it enough to have more tonight!

So my challenge to you is this…stop justifying yourself to your friends. 

If you enjoy something, do it! If that something you do brings you joy, do it….ALL THE TIME! 

If you’re making changes, and reaching your true potential, keep being a bad ass!

If you like mayonnaise on your fries, eat it…in moderation of course! ;) (Another thing I got made fun of)

My point….Be PROUD of who YOU are and QUIT SQUANDERING what makes YOU AWESOME to meet the needs of others who may never understand!

I encourage you to make and eat more red slaw with a grin on your face.

XOXO, Haley