Don't save the good stuff

Once, when I was still a single lady, I dated a biz school guy.  Nice looking guy, good dancer, decent kisser.  High self esteem.  Really.  Really.  High self esteem.  Which meant that every time he opened his mouth to tell me how interesting he was, I lost more and more interest in him.  One day a mutual friend asked him how things were going between us, and his response was, enh.  When asked why, he responded, "She's not giving out the good stuff."

Well.

He was right, I wasn't.  But it wasn't because I'm a prude (although I am).  But I was saving the good stuff for a better opportunity.

I've always saved the good stuff.  I was raised a good Korean girl, where delayed gratification and saving the good stuff for Special Occasions or when you Deserved it were the rule.  Do the work first, then reap the reward.  Save the beautiful living room for special occasions.  And this paradigm carried over to adulthood.   Husband and I have a gorgeous set of dishes we received when we got married.  We pull it out twice a year, act all nervous about the kids coming close to it, then carefully hand wash it and store it away safely for the next biannual Special Occasion.

I can take this mindset to ridiculous lengths.  Don't use the nice running clothes unless you're going to seriously run (and, simultaneously, I can't run unless I'm wearing the nice running clothes - but the effort of finding and setting out the nice running clothes seems to hard.  Result: no running)  Don't drink the good wine given to us by a friend, it's not a special occasion (Result: expensive wine bottle gathers dust in the pantry)  Don't wear the beautiful dress, we're just going out for lunch. Don't buy the flowers, they'll just be dead in a week.

Ok, yes, I'm starting to sound a bit puritanical, even to myself.  Which is why I'm making this resolution for 2010:

Don't save the good stuff.

One of my good friends uses her good silverware every day.  She likes using it, and using it helps keep it from tarnishing.  The good stuff makes us happy because it's beautiful, well crafted, feels good in our hands, reminds us of special times.  Using the good stuff is a signal that life is good, and I am worthy.  And if the world ended tomorrow, I would regret NOT using and enjoying the good stuff on ordinary occasions more than I would regret using it at the wrong time.  I want to imbibe all the joy that ordinary and extraordinary days will bring next year.  So I'm going to use the good stuff, whenever I can.

How about you?  Do you use the good stuff?  Or do you save it?