What's Your Perspective 😎?
Thanksgiving 2021 taught me some valuable lessons.
Lesson #1- Healthy eating during Thanksgiving is not something I'm interested in 😂.
Lesson #2- Taste testing while cooking/baking makes a sufficient meal 😀.
Lesson #3- Spending quality time with family doesn't require anything but love ❤️.
Lesson #4- Perspective matters...big time 😉!
Of all of this year's Thanksgiving lessons, the lesson on perspective was my favorite. I am not a baker but I sought out to bake the "perfect" cake alongside my mom (who makes THEE best pound cake). We planned for her to walk me through the cake baking process as I executed each step. This seemed like a fail-proof way to bake a cake, especially after my many (independent) failed attempts. Little did I know, my fail-proof plan would "fail."
As my mom carefully walked me through the steps to make the pound cake, I was excited and just knew it would come out perfect! Finally, the cake was ready to be placed in the oven. We placed it in and waited for the masterpiece to be ready! Shortly after we placed the cake in the oven, we began to smell something burning. To our surprise the carefully mixed, "perfect" batter, was bubbling out of the cake pan into the bottom of the oven. Almost immediately, I was ready to turn the oven off, remove the cake, and start over. But, a wise lady (my mom) told me to wait... you never open the oven until a cake is done... no matter what! We left the cake to finish cooking (and bubbling over). Soon enough, the cake was done and ready to be taken out of the oven. As we examined the finished product, I felt defeated. One portion of the cake had baked perfectly, while another portion had fallen (didn't rise). As we waited for the cake to cool, I kept saying things about the fallen portion of the cake, failing to acknowledge the part that turned out the way it was supposed to. It wasn't until the next day, as I journeyed home, that I realized I had been looking at the cake the wrong way all along. I had the wrong PERSPECTIVE.
You see, as my mom and I watched what I thought was a fallen cake, my mom did not see it that way. She kept saying that it had turned out good... it tasted exactly how it was supposed to taste. Her perspective helped me to see how I should have viewed the adventure of the cake all along. As I rode home, I began to think about what the cake looked like and what it tasted like. It looked like a partially perfect cake with a slight imperfection... the entire cake wasn't ruined (as I thought at first). I continued to think... the part that was seemingly ruined turned out to be even tastier than the rest of the cake! It seemed like some extra butter and sugar (the best ingredients in the cake) had settled on that side, making it more moist and melt in your mouth good! My parents ended up enjoying the cake and I did too, once I changed my PERSPECTIVE! The cake was never ruined, it just came out differently than I expected... and it was STILL GOOD!!
How does this connect to teaching and learning? Life?
Throughout my career as a teacher and throughout my life, I have often struggled with having the wrong perspective. My best lessons were the ones with the most "go with the flow" moments... but instead of focusing on the positive, I chose to focus on the part(s) that didn't go as planned. In life, I have often done the same thing. Having the wrong perspective will rob you of joy and priceless moments that were designed to be GOOD!!
So, friend, mama, teacher, whomever.... the next time you endeavor to do something great, whether it be to teach a lesson in the classroom, execute a homeschool lesson at home or even bake a cake, do it with the right PERSPECTIVE!!! Will it (whatever your it is) be perfect? Probably not! But learn a lesson from the cake... the part that comes out good, celebrate it! The part that you wish would have turned out differently, celebrate something in that too! And remember, the "failed" part, may just be the best part... it is all about PERSPECTIVE!
