**Disclaimer: As much as I want it to be... this genius rant is not mine (although I did touch up the grammar a bit... I couldn't help myself). Credit: Caitlin, who would probably then credit yoga instructor, Scott. Regardless, I laughed so hard when I read this, I was sweating. Well done.
The other day I overheard two people talking and one said to the other, "She wants to have her cake and eat it too." As goofy colloquialisms go, this one... (ahem)... takes the cake.
[Brilliant. I love it already. See how he did that? Awesome!]
I don't mean to split hairs, but isn't the purpose of having a cake, in fact, to eat it? Are cakes commonly used for other purposes of which I am unaware? Have you ever bought a cake, or made one yourself just to have around? Maybe to keep on a shelf somewhere like a knick-knack, or put out in the yard instead of a garden gnome?
[Garden gnome!]
Cakes do not make good paperweights, bookends, or plant holders. They are made of sugar, flour, eggs, et cetera. And since this combination of ingredients is commonly found to be delicious, eating your cake seems like a pretty appropriate response when you have one.
The problem with the expression is the frequent implication that someone is being greedy. If the saying were, "having your cake and eating someone else's," I would tend to agree. Or maybe, "having your cake and buying another one." That would work too. That's greedy. But we are talking about YOUR cake here, and cake is also a metaphor for anything that is yours and brings you pleasure
Life isn't just for learning, it's for enjoying. What is the cake in your life, and are you enjoying it? It feels great to share our cake with friends, eating on plates with forks and napkins. But admit it. Sometimes we also eat it with our bare hands, alone, standing up in the kitchen, licking frosting off our fingers and celebrating the taste of something sweet.
Don't feel guilty about enjoying your cake. It's yours and you probably earned it.
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