TOO MANY COOKS CAUSE BOILING POTS?  Since tomorrow is time for a family reunion and I have cooking on my mind as well as Greg smoking his popular hams, this topic came to mind about 5 am this morning. I thought I would share a thought and maybe you can relate it to other phases of life other than cooking.

As most of us learned to cook from others,  we have probably experienced what I refer to as too many cooks can cause a pot to boil over. Let me share this probability. When I was learning how to make dressing for Thanksgiving and I had one of the best cooks teaching me, I was placed in charge of dicing the onions. Now, who would have thought it would be a big ordeal to chop some onions. I found out differently as my MIL has a specific way and size to those onion pieces. I felt inapt in my chopping skills; I felt like a failure in the art of making dressing. I moved on to the boiled eggs and that feeling of not being able to construct this masterpiece was overwhelming. I questioned my abilities over some onions and eggs. I have since then made her dressing for every holiday and amazingly, no one objected to my chopping skills. I don’t say this sarcastically but realistically because I chop my onions and eggs the same way she instructed me. It was a learning curve but my point of this lesson is we have a natural tendency to do things differently or we think differently but in the end all of us ultimately want is delicious dressing.

I will relate to another experience of cooking. While we were in Germany, I grew very close to our German landlords and their families. The grandchildren were learning English in school and they helped me with the German language. I made a refrigerator lemon cheesecake and my sweet landlady wanted to learn how to make it. I would measure it out in American style and she would put it in her measuring cups since she spoke no English. When I would think I had gotten all of the mixture out of a cup or bowl, she took it and “cleaned” it out until I could have placed it into the cabinet. It was sparkling and instead of appreciating her efforts, I wanted to get through with making the dish. My mind was focused on not having it get too warm and getting it into the refrigerator while she was focused on no waste. Both of our thoughts were good thoughts but different from each other’s.

Good cooks as well as good people have different thoughts and focus. This brings me to my point of this blog post……..As different as we are, our intentions are similar. We may have different ideas and methods but in the end, do you think most people want peace and prosperity? As much as we like our methods and processes to be the right one or the best possible way to proceed forward, it is wise to look at how the other person has derived to their conclusive method. We can learn from others; others can learn from us. The best solution is if two or more cooks are in the kitchen, each is assigned different dishes and remember to stir the pot to keep it from boiling over.

LIVE LIFE; LOVE LIFE; AND LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST by listening more, talking less, and applying what we learn and discarding the criticism.

(C) Copyright 2012-2017 Arline Miller with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced to the original location if disclosed. Photos are not necessarily property of Sipping Cups and is sourced if known.

STAY YOUNG WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR as a blog post has developed over a period of time and after some conversation on Face Book last week, I decided to give it the spotlight.  My first thought has to be a reflection on a photo I saw years ago about friendship of two elderly ladies full of wrinkles laughing themselves silly. Covered in wrinkles the viewer could see the children in them. This is the focus and sorry, not a miracle cream or solution for always looking 20 but enjoying the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and more like a 20 year old would do but with the added wisdom which usually comes with age.

I will start with a little confession and let’s see if you can relate. When I was in my 20’s, I was a lot smaller inweight than now. I wore the tight bell bottom jeans, the body hugging tops and could still get in a bikini….imagine that! I barely ate a normal meal and was consumed with keeping slim. I thought, acted, reacted with all of my personal focus was on me and my body. Now, I think all of that stress and worry had to have put a few wrinkles, right? It sounds like sabotage to me. While all of this worry and stress and not eating regularly, I also screwed up my metabolism which means what? I made it harder to maintain a normal weight. I think it is becoming clear why it is somewhat funny how that worked.

Let me be blunt. I am what I am and I am not vain but I feel we need to take care of ourselves but not to the point of vanity. I saw a photo recently and itlooked as if the person was living in the past, trying to dress like a teenager with a hairstyle not suitable for this person, and it hit me. Also, and I have been guilty of this before of posting pictures of years gone by of youthful bodies and clothing. This process can be therapeutical if we have a great sense of humor and maybe say, “Did I look like that?” Is this ringing a bell with anyone? If you do it as a humorous gesture, that is good but if we are trying to prove something that we are all that and a pack of chips, we are fooling ourselves.

I say this to bring us to a point. Here is my philosophy of staying young as we get older:

1) Color your hair or welcome the gray. It is coming or is already there. Laugh about it being there as part of your wise days coming. You have never seen a spiritual guru with blonde hair, right?

2) If your body doesn’t match the photos you display on social media, wear appropriate clothes. Maybe keep a few pieces of those old clothes (like a museum piece) and pull them out occasionally and try to get one leg in them and have a great laugh.

3) If you exercise, do it wisely. But let’s get real we can’t bend like we used to so let’s don’t try to impress those tiny creatures in the gym. Remember the old song, “Your day will come.” Hum it while you struggle with the machines or weights and it will get you through. Remember the biggest accomplishment of exercise is you remembered to do it; and it doesn’t last for days, only the soreness.

4) Post good photos and scrap the bad ones. I am smiling as I had this happen yesterday and I worked a few facial muscles (good to fight wrinkles by smiling a lot) when I had changed the way my bangs fall on my face and I was told several times people loved my “do” and it made me look much younger. That was a good compliment but what resonated with my sense of humor is I must have been looking pretty dang old with my bangs hanging down. See, a good laugh is good for the soul and no products were purchased for me to enjoy life and its moments of enlightenment. Their comments were sent with love but you have to see the humor in them too.

5) Take compliments graciously and one of the wonders of aging is it is easier to forget any negative feedback. I realized while observing a few things about aging that result in why older people usually look happier:

Eyesight gets worse so naturally everyone looks prettier even yourself.

    Memory fades so you don’t have the ability to rehash old arguments because you are busy trying to remember who they are.

    You can be yourself as most people seem to be more accepting of other’s faults and it is easier to laugh at crankiness.

Life is appreciated more at an older age as you start realizing a lot of your friends are missing and no one has posted Missing Person fliers. Hmmm???

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In summary, I say to each and everyone of us who are aging: Welcome it. Embrace it. Look in the mirror and take in every wrinkle, scar, puffy eye, graying eyebrows, thinning hair, and cheeks that have gotten fluffier, and have a good laugh. Look back in the mirror and see the love in your eyes for your family and hopefully for God. See the results of the struggles, defeats and the victory over those same things. Life is a combination and full of seasons which come and go like our waistlines. LIVE LIFE; LOVE LIFE; and LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST BY HAVING A GOOD LAUGH WITH YOURSELF.

(C) COPYRIGHT 2012-2017 Arline Miller with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced to original location if noted. Photos may or may not be property of Sipping Cups.

A DAY LILY NAMED DETERMINATION will be a short post but one with a deep meaning. I hope you enjoy it and that you see a deep message for everyone.

We moved a couple of weeks ago from a home we loved and had lived in it 11 years. Greg, my husband had worked along with his helper Robert to keep it immaculate and beautiful. I hesitated at the thought of leaving so many hours of tender loving care along with a bunch of sweat and blistered hands. People would stop and stare when the day lilies hit their peak and we posted hundreds of photos over the years. Most of the day lilies and some special lilies had been given to us from my Mom who was a terrific gardener with beautiful roses, amaryllis, etc but her love were her day lilies. She loved giving anyone who visited her the “tour” and I was impressed she remembered their names. Mom passed away in 2010 and it became even more important to keep her day lily spirit alive.

As we sold our home very fast and had found one to buy in my husband’s home town, it became frantic to get everything packed and ready for the movers AND to schedule digging up those special day lilies. No, we didn’t take all of them but we split the plants and then cut the tops off and placed in a tub that we could get water to the roots.

It took two weeks before my husband found some help to actually create a new day lily bed in the front yard and then plant the plants. It was amazing to see they were green and seemed anxious to take their spot to show off next season. We had no hope of them blooming again since they had bloomed for a long time in May and even June.

To the point and focus of this blog message and DETERMINATION showing up. Greg came in the home yesterday and said “Look at this!” and held his phone camera up so I could see the photo. To my surprise, there was a day lily bloom in our new bed. I almost cried but said to Greg, “That’s determination if I have ever seen it. It has been chopped, separated, dug up, transported and stored for two weeks and then it shows out by blooming within a week of being put into our new yard. Determination, that is the best name for it.”

I realized the meaning of determination by this little delicate day lily who refused to lay still even after all of the struggle of being displaced and living for a while in a dark space. In life itself, what if we exercised that much discipline and determination when things got rough? Let’s see; Chopped…at some point in our lives, we are disconnected or chopped from family or friends; later jobs; Separated by relationships, distance, death, etc. and the feeling has to be loneliness; Dug Up and relocated by circumstances out of our control; Transported into a new environment even if is due to a happy occurrence like marriage or moving back home; Stored Away or as I say, forgotten by old friends and relatives as their lives or yours gets too busy to schedule a time to see each other or even call. Replanted into a new life, new surroundings, new challenges and sometime a new home can cause an adjustment period and it can take time to feel at home and start a new growth and good seasons.

LIVE LIFE, LOVE LIFE, AND LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST BY DETERMINING WHERE YOU WANT TO BE AND WHO YOU WANT TO BE WITH IN LIFE.

(C) COPYRIGHT Arline Miller 2012-2017 with all rights and privileges reserved. All photos are not exclusively the property of Sipping Cups unless stated.