Reinvent Yourself

As my nickname speaks, Reinvention Queen, I feel it represents a lot more than just reinventing food. Maybe the first step in reinventing anything should be reinventing ourselves. Today on the blog I would like to address this topic on how we can reinvent ourselves.

To begin with, if you have read some of my reinvention posts, you know that my motto (not original but a good one) is Waste Not, Want Not. This means we should not waste ourselves and if we make good use of our minds, bodies, and not to forget, our souls, we will not want.

One of the first steps in my Reinvention Process, I look in the refrigerator or pantry to see what I have available. Let’s get personal and look at ourselves in the mirror. Let’s look for opportunity and not vanity. While we take a minute to see our pros, we have to see our cons. I am never negative but I also am a realist. What are your best talents, attitudes, qualities, and integrity traits? What are your obstacles or as a cook let me say, what are your bitter tastes? Once we see the good, the bad, and the “ugly” and I am not speaking physical appearance. we can decide what new dish can be invented from the “ingredients” we possess.

Next, I look for combinations for making the most flavorful reinvented dish. I feel if we give our associations some mental workouts, we can re-evaluate what can mix well with our own ingredients. One observation in life I see is we try to make too many non compatible ingredients work instead of finding the workable combination. I want to relay a personal story at this point for all of us to recollect since I feel fairly sure you have a story too. When I was marketing and making what I call good money, my dear Mom, with good intentions, said to me, “Why don’t you get a regular job like teaching?” I looked at her having many great friends who were good teachers. I respected them highly but knew I made a lot more money than they did at the time and replied, “Mom, why would you want me to take a pay cut?” My point of this story is not to boast as many people I know make a lot more than I do and have many more benefits to draw from. My point is we have to look at our ingredients (talents) and make good decisions. My next point is even if we are in a good place, we have to keep our eyes open and be flexible. That, I find to be a valuable asset in my life is I chose to be flexible and willing to change. Look in your pantry, see what makes you smile, fills you up and satisfies you.

I can make a dish, enjoy it immensely, but I have a nature to want to see how it would taste if I changed it up a little. That’s what makes me enjoy cooking as it gives me an opportunity to try something new. This is the same way in life. You don’t have to quit your career and/or job, but look around, find something new to learn and try. Ask your employer can you expand your job, cross train, add a new dimension. You cannot believe how many times in my life, my curiosity overrode any boredom in doing the same old same old, if you get my drift.

I find myself making two or three different dishes using the first initial ingredients. I pull one ingredient from one dish, add from another one, and throw in something new. I would not be happy if I was on an assembly line doing the same task over and over. Some people love that stability and they are happy in their comfort zone. I applaud them but that is not my ingredient list in life. What is your ingredient list? If you find yourself content as some steak and potato guys are, so be it. Life is good and that is all that counts.

Today, pull out your ingredients, see what might could be added or even subtracted to make the best life dish yet. Reinventing yourself may be the best recipe ever!

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced to original location/author, if known, for credit reference.