TO COOK YOU MUST BE IN THE KITCHEN

The Wisdom of my Father.

“You can’t cook, Jennifer, while you are sitting down in the living room watching TV.”

My father said this to me months ago, actually probably a year ago.

DETOUR-Quick thing about me; time is always a little skewed for me, because the story is what matters not so much the time line.

For example, if I am telling you a story and I say the other day it could have been three days ago or seven hundred and thirty two days ago. It is because we are talking about the point, the kernel of wisdom not the factual day. 

My father said this to me because I had burnt the taco shells I was heating up. Getting out of my comfy recliner, I came into the kitchen, I threw the blackened taco shells into the trash, and placed more into the oven. This time I watched them cook from the vantage point of the kitchen and mulled over my fathers words, must be in the kitchen to cook huh? Interesting, I thought, and at this moment,  all the cliche sayings about life came flooding into my mind.

• You have to get in the game if you want to play.
• You must learn to walk before you can run.
• Got to be in it to win it.
• Quitters never win.
• You need to put your pants on before your shoes. WAIT. What? 

Oh sorry, that is just me.

Yes, the other day : )

As I was lacing up my shoes getting them on my feet perfectly for optimal walking ability and stair master; I stood up to realize I didn’t have any pants on.

Rolling my eyes at myself I knew there was no way I could jimmy my pants on over my shoes.

You know ladies, the really tight work out pants we wear, the yoga ones, I knew there was no way I could get my pants over my shoes, the pants barely make it onto my body.

It is not because they are too small, it is because they are the ones we are supposed to wear to exercise. And even though I loathe these pants, even if they are the cute ones,  I wear them because they are the best for exercise.

The only way to get my pants on was to take my shoes off and start over.

Laughing at myself, I untied my beautiful symmetric tied laces, put my pants on, then retied my shoes, with a smile on my face, I said to myself, “Isn’t this little endeavor true of life?”

 

WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. 

There are so many things we have to do first before we can do anything.

• Gas in your car to drive it.
• A license to get married.
• Cash before you can buy something or let’s hope you do.
• A job before you get a paycheck. Or what is worse about a job, you have to work for two weeks before you ever get paid.
• For those of us who are servers, take care of an entire table before you know if you are going to get tipped.

There are many things we have to do before we can any kind of reward, or return.

 

The Wisdom of my Mother. 

One time a young man was complaining to my mother, that he didn’t have a wife. How he really wanted one, and so on.

Instead of giving him sympathetic words, direction on where to find a wife, or guidance in how to get a wife, she didn’t even offer the standard offering that she would pray for him to find a wife. My mother posed a question to this young man.

Are you preparing for a wife? Are you even in a place in your life where you could provide for a wife?  Do you have an income to support a wife? Are you emotionally, spiritually, ready to be a husband?

A little harsh, maybe, but also a real reality for many things in our life.

Don’t you wish my family was your family? We don’t let you get away with anything?

I love it and also find it extremely challenging at times.

 

What is your thing?

What opportunity are you praying for? What is the thing you are hoping to happen in your life?

What are you wanting to be noticed for? Promoted for? Recognized? Praised?

What is it? Do you know? I think we always know the secret dreams of our hearts. I do.

I think we lie to ourselves or hide them from ourselves but they are there. And we know what they are. We need to admit it to ourselves and then we can say it to others.

What is mine? It is always basically the same thing it may be in different forms but it is always the same.

The question for me was, if you met someone who truly believed in you and your storytelling ability do you even have anything to show them?

Ouch.

OUCH. A painful ache appeared in my gut.

After desperately wanting to be a storyteller and working on projects for years, I have nothing finished. Nothing.

It is a disappointing reality. But it’s where I am.

And the reality is, I am the only who can change this. I am the only one who can write this book. It is all on me. I am the one who has to make the choice, and make the decision every day to work on it.

 

What is yours?

Do you know?

Or are you still in the stage of making excuses?

Or squashing down the dreams of your heart, never to reveal it to anyone?

If you had that opportunity to speak would you be prepared? Would you be ready?

Or are you putting your shoes on before you pants?

The truth of reality is sometimes hard to face. 

You have to WRITE many blogs before you know if anyone is reading them.

You have to TRY something before you know if you will fail at it.

 

WORK, My dear it is all work.

As much as I like writing, and I do enjoy it. It is work.

While watching the television show “The Middle” Brick (a little boy who is an avid reader decides to write a book. He only gets one sentence completed but it is a fantastic sentence.)

He says that it is true of writers, that they hate the writing part but loved having written.

It is true. I love going back and reading chapters of my book. I don’t know if it is narcism, the character I have missed, or realizing I love these people from my imagination, but I always find it enjoyable to read.

Either way you have to put in the work, no matter what it is.

You have to invest. You have to risk.

You have to write the book.

Take the stage.

You have to go to the gym for the new body. No one can do it for you.

At that my friends is the charge for us all as we finish out the final month of 2018.

It is not over yet and you can still make changes in this busy, crazy, final month of the year. Do it! I know you can.

I swear, I think most of these blogs are written to myself, so I can get off the couch and finish what I started. I do hope as you read them you get inspired as well. To take the leap whatever it is and to do the hard work that comes with taking the leap.

Love to you all.

 

Now to get off the couch and go cook in the kitchen.

 

And for goodness sake put your pants on before your shoes. 🙂