If All Else Fails, Read the Directions
July 27th, 2007 by Richard CockrumOh! Wait! We didn’t come with directions.
Do you ever watch cooking shows? The host is making a cake. Set on the counter before him are all the ingredients, pre-measured and ready to use. The oven is heated. All pans, bowls, and utensils needed are ready at hand. In the space of 30 minutes (including commercials) he effortlessly puts together the cake and places it in the oven to cook. Before the program ends, out comes a finished cake, perfect and ready to eat.
Then we have a program like Hell’s Kitchen. If it can go wrong, it will. Ingredients aren’t available. Dishes are completed at the incorrect times. Some dishes are never completed, or come out totally inedible. Sometimes, things come together and everything works according to plan.
Which is the more accurate picture of your life? Where do you see yourself?
Personally, Hell’s Kitchen works for me. To change metaphors, our lives are not final drafts, to be seen only when we have all our lines and actions right. We don’t meet our cues at just the right time, with just the right hint of a smile lifting the corners of our lips.
No. Living is messy. Writing, rehearsal, and public performance all happen at once. We get our hands dirty. We make mistakes. We misunderstand the situation we are in. We have to clarify ourselves, wash up, and try again.
I don’t know about you. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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July 28th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Great analogy! I never thought about it like that. I knew that life was messy - but to compare it Hell’s Kitchen makes me feel a lot better!
Thanks!
July 28th, 2007 at 8:43 am
You put a smile on my face, Brooke.
I’m just glad our inner chef has Gordon Ramsay’s passion and love, but doesn’t take away our jacket permanently.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:30 am
I agree. Everything doesn’t work out in plans. There will always be barriers which takes a lot of our time. We don’t have to set our minds on specific plans.
July 30th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Hi Dave, and welcome. The surprises that come along are one of the things that make living interesting.
July 30th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
You made a good point with Hell’s kitchen. Making a perfect plan is only a waste of our time. Our success lies in our creativity and ability to prepare for unexpected situations.
July 30th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Hi Helen,
We’re able to make a perfect plan. I wouldn’t know one if it bit me.
But planning as best we’re able is part of using our creativity to prepare for what may come to us. Things probably won’t work as we plan, but the preparation is important in helping us learn to cope with the unexpected.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
[…] 1. I agree. “I wouldn’t have it any other way!” Rick at Shards of Consciousness offers up some great advice If all Else Fails, Read the Directions […]
May 31st, 2008 at 12:43 am
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