The Recipe

Scientists have their labs. Artists have their studios. Craftsmen have their shops. The chef had his kitchen. And it was an amazing one.

He loved to cook, to create —  to take random ingredients and create magic. He created food for the soul. And food for life. It was his gift from above.

Fate had presented him with a series of disappointments. It was a dark season full of bad news for the whole country — but it had hit him personally and quite hard. His dream job had turned into a nightmare.  A nightmare he couldn’t wake up from. His restaurant failed. His ego cracked like an egg. And now, his spirits had fallen like a soufflé.

He decided to throw a pity party for one — with snacks that he personally baked. Snacks like excuses. Snacks like blame. All snacks that were bad for his heart.

He ate them until he was sick.

Sitting there, hungover from pity, he flipped around the TV channels. He noticed the stories of the successful. He started to notice the stories of the unsuccessful.  And there seemed to be a common thread running through all of them.  It wasn’t what happened to the person that necessarily defined what would happen to them. No, it was how they reacted to it.

At that moment he had never been more aware of the world around him. Suddenly he realized he had been eating soul junk food. He had been focused entirely on himself.

He leapt out of his recliner and bolted into the kitchen. He started playing around with ingredients in his life and putting together a recipe.  He used wholesome ingredients. Ones that would make his body and his spirit strong again.

The main ingredient he needed was “Work.”  It wasn’t a sexy ingredient like a spice would be but it was the base of the recipe. The next ingredient was “Simplicity.”  To master anything, he had to focus on only a few things.  And then there were “Friends and Family.”  Friends and Family were what held everything together — Like eggs in a cake. Then he added “Planning.” He needed a recipe to follow every day, even when he was creating new ones. Then came the spices.  Life needed spice.  And his spice was “fun.”  He added a pinch of “Exercise,” too.  He added a healthy dose of “Spirituality.”

The chef looked at his concoction and realized he had created a new dish. One that would feed him and others.  One full of nutrition that would heal his body and his soul.  And one that was tasty to eat.

He looked at his scribbled notes and smiled. He had created a recipe for success. A recipe for life.

Recipe for Life:

4 cups of Work

2 cups of Friends and Family.

1 teaspoons of Planning.

A pinch of simplicity.

1 cup of rest.

1 cup of exercise.

2 cups of service to others.

4 cups of fun.

4 cups of Faith.

And a pinch of luck.

Mix and mix again. Bake at 98.6 degrees for life.

One-year later: The chef had opened up a new restaurant. It had a cheery but simple decor. And the menu was equally as simple.  The atmosphere was electric, full of friends and family.  Laughter filled the room. He worked; he played; he had fun. And it showed. He hadn’t thrown a pity party for himself in over a year.  He just sat in the kitchen looking out at the crowd.  He smiled. Magic was coming out of his kitchen once again.