Dear Readers, I love tacos. Full stop. I sincerely love tacos. I love tacos like Bubba from Forest Gump loves shrimp.
I realized this one day after introducing my Ukrainian classmate to her first tacos. “Beautiful!” she squealed when they arrived at our table, then she instantly snapped photos and sent them to her friends back home.
I spent the rest of that day listing off every type and style of taco I could think of…“Shrimp tacos, potato and egg tacos, bean and cheese tacos, birria tacos, fish tacos, vegan jackfruit tacos…” and after some hours, I stopped myself just as soon as I realized I’d truly become Bubba Stone.
On the flight from Portugal to Texas this summer, I knew my main mission was to help Team Risky Business achieve their Top 10 finishing goal in the Texas Water Safari (and ahem…we took home 6th place overall!) But I had some goals of my own and made myself a little sticker chart to track my progress, complete with a mini booklet of reward stickers.
It was a taco tracker. After each taco sesh, I would ceremoniously peel off a tiny adorable sticker and slap it onto my chart. Forty tacos in five weeks. Easy peasy, bean and cheesy. These were my Tac-OALS. Obviously, a girl has her priorities.
Years ago, at the Safari Banquet, I gifted stickers to anyone and everyone because our goofy little Funboat team had achieved its race goals. I distributed gold stars to my team after this year’s race and also to the racers and team captains at a post-event celebration later in the summer. I mean, if you paddle 230 miles and still have enough upper-body strength to raise a Shiner, you deserve a sticker. A round of gold stars for everyone!
As my time in Texas wound down, I realized I was three tacos short of my goal. It was the day of my return flight, and my younger son, who lovingly tracked and engaged in my taco journey, insisted we have breakfast tacos prior to departure.
I ordered a taquito platter consisting of five tacos al pastor. I scarfed down four utterly divine delicacies and foilwrapped the last one as an emergency ration for foreseeable airport salvation.
I handed my sticker chart to my son and told him he could finish out the sticker placements. I didn’t look to see which stickers he chose until I was back in Portugal. I expected three individually-selected gems, but instead, he’d adorned the chart with one long sticker, covering the final three spaces that simply read: “Best Day Ever!” I was instantly in tears.
Y’all, we spend so much of adulthood chasing complicated goals like degrees, custody, productivity metrics, portfolios, and job titles, yet sometimes, the most profound accomplishments are simply remembering to measure our joys.
Maybe it’s river floats and heart stones. Maybe it’s a pile of playbills, or a bullet journal or a Polaroid wall. Savor those moments. Choose a method of memorialization that sparks joy and “stick” to it!
So yes, I hit my Tac-OAL. I overachieved, even. Two bonus tacos with two giant bonus stickers.
Give yourselves permission to celebrate what’s delicious in life and don’t be afraid to be silly or whimsical about it. I’m so glad I tracked my taco consumption. I added joy. I added stickers. I added weight.
If you’re doing the math, that’s 40 tacos + 2 bonus tacos + free park concert margaritas + 5 weeks = 5 kilograms and 42 stickers. Totally worth it.
XOXO,
Kelly Stone is an educator, comedian, mother, and author who loves the heck outta the river. She welcomes e-letters at kellystone. org or [email protected] and adores handwritten notes and postcards via good ol’ snail mail: R das Combatentes da Grande Guerra 47, FRAC R, Aveiro, Portugal 3810-087.
