Follow the Recipe

 If I want to bake a chocolate cake, I need to make sure I have the proper ingredients. The result won’t be what I intend if I make up my own recipe, omitting the chocolate, flour, and eggs. My intention might be for it to be a delicious treat, but the outcome will reflect my effort or lack of preparation.

The pastor at my spiritual home said this morning that it is up to us to create the conditions in which our desired outcomes will be inevitable, and that hit home for me. How often have I left out one of the steps of a process in favor of “then magic happens”? Sadly, embarrassingly, more often than I’d like to admit. 

I find myself, whether facing a project or a recipe, breaking the task down into steps. Do I have all of the ingredients? If not, can I make small substitutions which won’t detract from the end product I desire? Do I have all the time I need? If not, what changes to my schedule can I make? Are my individual steps doable? Do I need to ask for assistance, or have I perhaps made them too easy? Am I ready to start?

Instead of choking at the thought of doing something which will take time and effort, what would happen if I looked at each separate task or direction, and had gratitude for it’s do-ability? And as each item was checked off, I had gratitude for what I had accomplished? And as the project reached completion, as the cake came out of the oven, I expressed pleasure in achieving something wonderful? I would want to share my joy, offer others some cake!

The very thing which can keep me focused on my desired outcome is the gratitude for each and every step along the way. It’s as appealing as the aroma of a freshly baked chocolate cake!