Tag: Food

1 EXAMPLE THAT CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING

A few posts ago I wrote how asking the question, “What do I love about this situation?” can change your perspective. I used the example of my ride to work and the things that I saw to illustrate. If you haven’t read that post there will be a link at the bottom of this one for you to do so.

Since I have written that post another startling revelation has occurred to me – I have 4 more senses! As deep of a thinker as I may be, I am not always the quickest. What I mean is I began I seeing things that I loved and seemed to overlook. Eventually I noticed sounds I loved. Things that came to mind were birds singing, my love laughing and the sound of coffee brewing. I noticed smells I enjoy and take for granted such as pizza baking in the oven, Margie’s perfume or…well…coffee brewing. I also noticed things I enjoyed the feel of. These included, but were not limited to, a soft bed after a hard day, the feel of the woman I love in my arms, and a warm cup of coffee. Perhaps you are seeing a pattern, I really love Margie and coffee.

There is one of the senses that made a huge difference and changed an entire portion of my life. Paying attention to what you love using this one sense can change your life so much for the better, even with no change in outside circumstances. You don’t believe me? Allow me to share my example with you.

Taste, that was really a big one. I am so lucky to live with one amazing cook. Everything she makes is amazing. Before starting this, I never realized how much of this wonderful food experience I was missing. Closing my eyes and really concentrating on each bite and the flavor I was experiencing sent my enjoyment into a much higher level. Try this yourself next time you are enjoying lunch with coworkers, a quick snack or of course a dinner made for you by the love of your life. Asking yourself ahead of time, “What can I love about this meal?” has so many benefits. You engage all your senses. The sound of bacon sizzling in the ban. The texture of the pasta on your fork. The smell of the chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. The bright colors in the salad on your plate. To, of course, the taste we slow down to appreciate. You can also think about what you can be grateful for, which is another way of looking at love. You can be grateful you can afford the ingredients to create the meal. You can be grateful you have a house in which to prepare the meal. If you are as blessed as I am, you can be grateful for a woman whose culinary talents are only rivaled by her beauty.

Practice these things as often as would be enjoyable for you. I can promise you that once you start this practice, you will not want to stop as it makes every experience your own little slice of heaven. This one practice, without any change in outside circumstances, can give you a life you love. I would love to hear about your results if I see you at a seminar, on my website or even if we happen to just bump into each other. Feel free to share them in the comments below as well.

FEED EACH OTHER

Tasty Food Abundance in Healthy Europe
Tasty Food Abundance in Healthy Europe (Photo credit: epSos.de)

Further proof inspiration can strike nearly anytime. Last Sunday I was having a few cocktails at a local establishment I visit when I ran into a friend of mine, Matt, that I have known a while. He shared with me this very interesting story that truly helps explain why it is so important to be kind to others. Understand I am recalling this from memory and it is a night I was having some cocktails as mentioned above.

A gentleman was in the hospital after a serious car crash. He slipped into a coma while recovering. During such time he left his body and was taken up to heaven. His excitement was short-lived as God told him the reason he had brought him there was so he could visit both heaven and hell and tell the world about it. Given the choice of which place he could visit first he chose hell so he could get it over with. Down he went expected fire and people crying out in pain. When he arrived all he could see was a lavish banquet sent with some of the finest dishes available. This isn’t so bad he thought. Then he saw the people arrive. Attached to the end of their arms were extra long utensils. Try as the may the could not get the food to their mouth. Time sped up and he watched as day after day these people tried every different  idea they had, yet all of them ended up starving while sitting in front of a table full of food. He felt helpless and sad, then he started to rise up and was soon back in heaven. Again he was at the same lavish banquet. Again the people came in the same utensils attached to their arms. “Surely this must be a mistake” he thought. how could the same suffering that existed in hell exist in heaven?  He saw the people begin to try in vain to eat unable to get the food to their mouths. He felt confused and disillusioned. He heard the voice of good tell him to keep watching. Eventually the people figured out a solution, they began to feed each other. As time sped up here he watched as all the people stayed happy and satisfied. In addition they seemed to be happier and better connected with each other.

No matter what your spiritual belief may be this story shows something very important. When we try to rely on and only help ourselves we will surely starve. Not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. When we dedicate our lives to helping others it shall be returned in kind and everyone will prosper. So look where you can feed others. Feed them physically, spiritually, emotionally. Give them some of your time, an ear when they need to be heard, a shoulder when they need one to cry on. The more of us who do this the more this world will resemble heaven.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

 

Sometimes it is too easy to get hung up on details. recently I went to a surprise birthday party for a dear friend of mine. She was surprised and seemed genuinely pleased. The night was filled with plenty of joy and a great time was being had by all. When I happened to catch a glance of the friend who had thrown her the party. She seemed quite unhappy bordering on downright depressed. I caught her alone for a second and inquired what seemed to be that matter as the party seemed to be going swimmingly. She began to list off all that had not gone according to plan. The guests had not all arrived before the birthday girl and thus were not able to yell surprise. The person who was supposed to bring some of the food had not even shown up and she even forgot to invite some of the girls friends and was unable to contact others while still keeping it a surprise. I couldn’t help but stare at her blankly. “Do you not see how much fun everyone is having?” I asked. Noting the having the most fun was the girl for whom she had put the whole party on for. “It could’ve been a lot better” she muttered. After pondering mentioning the lack of dancing-girls I decided to mention how worse it could’ve went. She managed to keep it a surprise for one. The birthday girl felt special and grateful. Nobody missed whatever food was supposed to be brought by the missing guest. Quite often we can focus too much on the details and fail to look at the success of the big picture. In every phase of life something is sure to go the opposite of the way we had planned. Weddings, birthday parties, careers, you name it. It’s important to remember not only does this often lead to some of the best stories, but also to different ideas and paths we may have not thought of. What may seem like a failure can be the seed to the greatest blessing ever. On a side note, the lady who missed that party showed up at a party a few weeks later which angered the friend who had thrown the surprise party weeks before. About an hour into the evening people were complaining about the negative energy she had brought with her and how all her food had tasted salty. Issues that had not come up a few weeks before. So remember if your going to focus on details instead of focusing on the ones that are going wrong and begin to tear apart your evening,  focus on the ones that are going right and build from there.

THE BEST CRACKER I HAVE EVER TASTED..

Once in a while an idea comes to me at the most unique times. This particular one came thanks to an enjoyable afternoon discussion over coffee I shared with a good friend the other day. It is a great example of perspective and how we can tend to settle for less than we truly deserve in life. If we were to fast for a prolonged period of time, the first bite after the fast would taste amazing whether it was the most expensive steak or a simple cracker. Either way being without food so long would increase our appreciation for whatever food we were presented with next, even if that food were not particularly to our liking or the best for us. what does this have to do with living a successful life? A lot actually. I have always been puzzled when amazing friends of mine stay in abusive relationships or settle for jobs, partners or any other situations that are so below them. There are many reasons that this can be and all of them are unfortunate, but one can be expressed with this story about the cracker. For just like going without food for a prolonged period of time, people also go through periods where they are without love, affection, appreciation and many other things that can be just as essential for our personal well-being. If a person is in a relationship where they are generally ignored they may find themselves in a relationship with a person who is overly jealous and needs to know there every move. Both of course are emotionally abusive, but when we go without attention for a long period of time any attention becomes good attention. I’ve seen people who are in relationships that lack physical intimacy dive into physically abusive relationships because although they are suffering there is physical contact and they equate that with love. On the surface this may all sound a bit crazy to some, but let us bring our mind back to the cracker. if you were full it would make no sense to you that a cracker could taste so delicious, but if you found yourself homeless and unable to eat that cracker would represent a meal fit for a king. So let us use this to discover things we may be settling for in our lives. Does the fear of growing old alone keep us in a relationship that does not serve us? Does a lack of popularity in school have us hanging on to as many friends as we can even if they are not the best people to have in our lives? Let us also use this tool to better understand people we know who appear to find themselves in situations they do not belong in. Quite often there are stories behind the scenes we never know about.

WATCH YOUR COFFEE!

Here is an interesting metaphor I learned recently that I would like to share with you.  I am always on the lookout for symbols that can serve to remind me of my goal of living the most amazing life I can.  I like coffee.  Ok that last statement could be a slight understatement.  Frequently I find myself at Starbucks either working on my book or even composing some of these posts.  Now before I get to my next point I have to address the voice of my good friend Kim in the back of my head saying “I don’t drink coffee”.  Trust me this could work just as well with a diet Coke.  Next time you get a cup of coffee, or whatever it is you care to consume, think of it as your mind.  Now while waiting in line at the coffee shop I have heard some VERY specific things people like, and do not like in their coffee.  Funny thing is these same people are not nearly as careful as to what they put in their minds.  We must be diligent as to what we let in and keep out of our thoughts on a daily basis.  If we happen to leave this up to chance what will we be greeted with?  I can only share this with you.  I watched the news to try to catch the weather a few nights ago.  What I saw will seem like an exaggeration, but it was the honest truth.  In the first 5 minutes of the news I heard of 3 homicides and 2 house fires, one that took the life of a young woman.  Never did make it to the weather.  It is not only the media we have to look out for, even some of our closest friends and family.  Sounds pretty mean at first blush, but let me explain it using the coffee method.  If a complete stranger walks up and puts some poison in your coffee what will happen?  Answer, you will die.  Now let’s say your closest friend, even on accident spills some of that same poison in your coffee what will happen?  Same result, you will die.  Now this may sound extreme, but that is exactly what negative thoughts are to a healthy mind, poison.  How many times have you had lunch with a friend who happened to be having a bad day and proceeded to tell you how bad the government is, how the economy is on the verge of collapse and other such inspiring thoughts.  You may very well end up leaving lunch at the very least a little less inspired.  The flip side of this is we must not poison anyone else’s coffee.  Before you start venting all of your negative beliefs on your friends, family or co-workers, look them in the eye and ask yourself “would I want to poison this person?” because that is what you are doing to their mind.  So when you get your next latte from Starbucks, or your next diet Coke from the vending machine, stop and think about what you would let somebody put in there.  Let it serve as a great reminder to watch your own thoughts, feelings and emotions.  Watch your own coffee.

A CUSTOMER…AND SOME CHOCOLATE

I recently received a thank you note from the daughter of a customer who passed away.  The note was thanking me for attending her funeral and for always leaving her little pieces of chocolate.  What really got me thinking was the great lengths she went to explain that it was not so much the treats that made her smile, but the fact that somebody felt she was special.  You see this women was in her mid 80’s and her husband had passed some years before.  My first meeting with this fabulous woman was last October when I started at the post office I currently work at.  It is a small and rural town of only a few hundred people and everyone seems to know, well…everyone.  Here comes a long-haired guy from out-of-town, I thought it would take me forever to win them over.  Well in walks this lady and proceeds to tell me she is the Queen of the town.  She asked if I was the ‘new kid they put out there’ and really just proceeded to give me a hard time in general.  She informed me if I wanted to make it in that town, I better be nice and it wouldn’t hurt if I brought chocolate.  So the following day when she came in I was sure to have both milk and dark chocolates, the kind with the little inspirational messages in the wrapper.  From that day forward she would stop in to make sure I was behaving.  The payment for this service?  You guessed it, a small piece of chocolate.  Before her passing of cancer shortly before Christmas we got to have a little chat at the diner across the street where she confessed she worried she gave me to hard of a time at first.  I assured her, that was the best thing that could’ve happened as it made me feel right at home.  I told her how much I worried about fitting in and what a small town would think of me.  She said something I’ll never forget “Always be yourself, if you’re nice people will be able to see that.  If you’re not nice then they will let you know it”.  She passed away only a few days later.  The lesson I took from this on reflection today was something we may forget.  Always be yourself, you never know when you are just what someone needs.  Also, if someone does make your day just by being themselves, thank them. You never know when you may no longer have a chance.