Turns out I picked the chipped beef and cheese sandwich with mashed potatoes, the meal I brought home from a chain restaurant on Saturday evening. Not at all healthy, but it was tasty. And since I only ate half for dinner, I get the rest for leftovers.
To warm it up, I simply stick both items from the box into a little sauce pan on the stove, cover it, and go back to my office.
It's not long before I smell something.
"Oh, no! The potatoes!"
I run back to the kitchen, quickly turn the burner down and flip the sandwich and potatoes over. Wouldn't you know it? The potatoes no longer look like a nice, round mound of tastiness. After the flip, they fall flat. My mind doesn't see burned potatoes, though. My mind sees...latkes! Potato pancakes.
It's like that old lemon/lemonade saying, only different: when life hands you burned potatoes, make latkes.
Yeah. Why not?
Latkes or lemons -- it's about the spin. Alter your perspective, and you can turn any sour situation into something more palatable.
So how about this? The next time you make a mistake (Burn the pototoes, maybe?) notice what happens to your mind. Where do your thoughts go? Do they want to focus on the negative aspects of the mistake (a ruined meal), or can you refocus them into a solution (Well, whaddya know? Burned and flattened mashed potatoes look like latkes!) that will work for you, despite the mistake? Think about it: little mishaps like this one offer opportunity to practice mental mind games so that when the big challenges get in your way, you're better armed to face them head-on. That's part of being your Best self.
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4 comments:
I, for one, thought the potatoes looked fantastic in the pic! I saw the photo before I read the post and thought, "I need to make that."
But what's most interesting to me, after reading the post, is how quickly your mind now shifts to the positive. You've been riding your BIKE long enough now that it's become second nature. :)
Yes, I think so -- with a little quirkiness tossed in. LOL. I do remember a time in life when that wasn't the case, Jenny. But with practice, you can switch the way your mind thinks. I love that.
wow great timing for this- something I've been meditating on....the ability to look at a situation and see the positive rather than go straight to the negative!
Jackie, great idea to turn your potatoes into latkes. I had a similar experience when I was making pierogi dough. My dough was much too dry, so I had a terrible time rolling it. I got upset at first, but after stepping away, I realized that of course I could just make the dough again and add more water the next time. Not exactly a turning lemons into lemonade example, but close enough. I'd love to be able to find the positive much more quickly like you do though. Something to work towards!
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