Read More Stories
Home
About Coaching
Who I Work With
How I work
Services
Free Stuff
Gift Shop
Meet Donna
Contact Donna
|
I spent a few minutes moaning about my choices. I didn't like
either one. Making cookies is a big project for someone as
culinarily challenged as I am. Digging through the recipe box for
the recipe, pulling out all the ingredients, measuring and mixing,
waiting for them to bake, not to mention the cleanup process. UGH!
I didn't want to bake cookies. I did, however, want to eat them!
As I considered my dilemma a quote popped into my head. "Think
big. Start small. Be patient." (Father John Cusack)
I heard this quote for the first time last spring. Some friends
and I meet regularly to share goals and dreams for the future. We
brainstorm ways to overcome challenges. We share insight and
resources that help us achieve our goals. Ginny shared this
quotation as a guide for when we feel overwhelmed by all that we
want to do.
You see, we all have big dreams. But our dreams are extremely
different. Linda wants to clear her plate of extra activities and
build quiet time into her life. Julie wants to develop her
relationships, her creative talents, and her love of cooking and
decorating by holding small dinner events for friends and family.
Ginny wants to build momentum and support for the young adult
ministry at her church. You probably have your own dreams. And
like my friends and I, you may feel overwhelmed by them, and may
feel like they'll never happen.
Thinking big is the fun and easy part. Most of us can come up
with some great dreams. The challenge is finding the time, energy,
and resources to implement them.
Starting small can be the solution. When there seems to
be too much to do, too many things to consider, too many skills or
tools to acquire you may find it easier to while away the hours
watching television, playing solitaire on your computer or staring
into space.
Starting small begins by choosing a plan or recipe to follow,
checking to see if you have the necessary ingredients, equipment
and skills, and then systematically following the instructions--
step by step.
And just like when preparing to bake cookies, you may discover
that your life is not well-stocked with the things you need. You
may be lacking ingredients, equipment or the skills necessary to
create your big dream. When this happens ask yourself what you'd
do if you were making cookies. Would you borrow from a neighbor,
go to the grocery store, or put off baking cookies until another
day? What happens if you are trying a new recipe and it calls for
some cooking skill you aren't familiar with? What would you do?
Would you ask my friend Jules, search the Internet for
instructions, or give up on the dream to bake this new treat?
Once you have the ingredients and equipment you need, and have
learned the skills needed to bake cookies, you begin the process
of mixing the ingredients together according to the instructions.
You implement the skills of mixing and folding them until the
batter is well-mixed. Then you drop the batter onto the baking
sheets and bake them according to the recipe instructions. Small
steps combined to create a big treat!
The final piece of Father John Cusack's wisdom is to be patient.
This can be hardest of all for me. It is one of the reasons I am
so culinarily challenged.
I think that if all the ingredients listed on the recipe are
needed, you should be able to just mix them all together at one
time to produce the batter. Instead sometimes you have to cream
the sugar, eggs, and shortening together first. Then you sift the
remaining dry ingredients together. Then you fold the dry
ingredients into the sugar mix. UGH! It takes so long and it adds
to the pile of dirty dishes to wash. But in order for the recipe
to work, you need to follow the steps.
I also have no patience waiting for cookies to bake. I learned
years ago, though, that turning the oven temperature up doesn't
allow you to reduce the baking time. I have to wait and wait and
wait while tray after tray after tray of cookies bake. Usually,
despite setting a timer, I wander off to another room or become
distracted and forget to listen for it. Overbaking does not
produce tasty, chewy cookies.
Sometimes you need to slow down and wait to see the results of
your efforts. You need to give things time to bake slowly and
then cool off before you can enjoy them or use them in a next
step. While patience is difficult for many of us to master, when
you try to rush things, the results are usually less satisfying.
I must tell you that this batch of banana chocolate chip cookies
was THE best batch I've ever made. The cookies were golden brown,
no burnt bottoms, and each cookie had a sprinkle of cinnamon on
top of it (usually I forget the cinnamon because I'm too rushed).
This time I carefully measured the ingredients, blended them
together according to the recipe instructions, and baked them at
the proper temperature for the correct amount of time. The small
steps and a bit of patience allowed me to create a big treat for
my family and me.
"Think big, start small, be patient." This powerful three-part
process can help you achieve everything from improved
relationships to career advancement or retraining; from a less
busy lifestyle to a more active one; or from a cabinet full of
raw ingredients to a tasty dessert.
Whether working in the kitchen or on your life, you can follow a
clearly written, pre-existing recipe or create your own. You can
even turn someone else's recipe into your own by adding flavor,
removing fat, or using it in a new way.
When was the last time you cooked up something new in your life?
Were the ingredients, equipment, and skills available to you?
Were they fresh? Were they plentiful? Were substitutions
available? Were you able to find the items and skills you lacked?
Did you even try? It isn't too late to make your dreams come
true. Thinking big, starting small, and being patient is a
recipe for a fulfilling life.
Happy baking,
--Donna
~~~
Copyright 2004 by Donna Doyon. All rights reserved. You are free to
use material from the A Swan's Song eZine in whole or in part,
as long as you include complete attribution, including live web
site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.
The attribution should read:
"By Donna Doyon. Please visit Donna's
web site at http://www.donnadoyon.com for additional stories and articles on improving relationships with yourself, your family and the other people in your world."
"Carefree Woman" artwork by Ann Boyajian
|
