Last post I discussed a weekend away with some friends and the importance of doing that in your own life. Something that took place there that I think is an interesting concept was about what took place the last night while being there. We were grilling out steaks with John focusing on the steaks and Jonathan focusing on the baked potatoes and gourmet mushrooms to top the steaks off when Ben began joking with Jonathan about making some kind of fancy from scratch dessert. Things he mentioned were: banana pudding, crème brûlée, and cheesecake amongst others. It started a friendly and enjoyable banter between friends however, I also took it as a challenge.
We were staying at a cabin for the weekend and we did not have any of those ingredients really on hand only a few things we brought and a few supplies that were in the cabin that the owners left. I spoke up saying we could definitely make a cheesecake as I knew I saw cream cheese in the fridge. Yes, a cheesecake does need more than just cream cheese however I knew that was a good start. I then reached under the sink and to my surprise actually found a springform pan Jonathan and I looked at each other and I took it as a sign. I quickly got to work scrimmaging the different cabinets and the refrigerator for anything I thought would go in a cheesecake. Luckily we did have cell phone service and Wi-Fi so I looked up four or five recipes getting ideas from different ones.
I did have to make quite a few substitutions and even forgo steps that it said were very important on all the recipes I looked at such as having certain ingredients at room temperature, mixing it a certain way, and being sure to let it sit in the refrigerator for a minimum of six hours if not overnight. Yes, I could have gotten frustrated, discouraged, or made excuses for the lack of ingredient choices and options when it came to making the cheesecake. However, that would’ve gotten me nowhere. Instead, I did the exact opposite and chose to not do these steps as I could not add them even if I wanted to. The result was much better than I would have expected and just added to the experience of the weekend.
As I said multiple times that weekend it’s all about the memories. Sometimes in life, we don’t have very many choices. Or the choices we do have are not the ones that we would like. At times we go through traumas, seasons of heartache, or times when things just don’t go our way. I am not trying to decrepit those things and my approach as a counselor is not one that believes changing your thoughts will change how you feel. Yes, it is important to acknowledge these things and to show empathy for those in our lives that experience them. However, if we focus so much on the negative it is hard to see all that is going well in our life or the opportunities and options that we do have that could help us grow or enjoy life to the fullest. I chose to be optimistic and made a cheesecake when the odds were not in my favor. And it turned out pretty good!
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