Susan Call's Blog, page 15
June 14, 2016
5 Ways Life is Like a New Recipe
Copyright: pixelbliss / 123RF Stock Photo
This morning I caught myself idea shopping on Pinterest. I’ll be honest, some weeks I’m totally lacking ideas when it comes time to make our family’s menu and grocery list. I get stuck in a rut with the same once-good, now-a-bit-too-often-sad recipes. Have you been there too?
As I printed off my fresh ideas this morning, I was struck by how much life is just like a new recipe.
Simple can be better – I’m a fan of the 5 ingredients or less recipes or the recipes made with ingredients I can pronounce and are all in my pantry. When life gets hectic, sometimes we need to focus on the basics, on the simple things. We need to adjust how we look at the things we already have before adding new things to the mix.
Good can take you out of your comfort zone – I didn’t grow up eating cilantro, black beans, sweat potatoes or using spices like cumin. But, because I tried new recipes, some that took me way out of my culinary comfort zone, I found new things that I liked. Life can be the same. It may take you stretching out of your comfort zone to find something new you truly enjoy.
Yours might be nothing like the next persons – Sure it may have been easy for the person who posted those adorable panda cupcakes to make them so charming. Yours may look more like a Pinterest-fail post. In life, you may find yourself seeing how things have turned out for your friends or coworkers and wonder why their lives look so neat and tidy but yours doesn’t. It’s ok. Sometimes we’re the ones with the cute cupcake and sometimes we’re not. It really does balance out in the end. Maybe panda cupcakes aren’t your thing. Try again, or try something different.
Things might not be as good as they seem – Have you ever notice how wonderfully delicious some recipes look… and then you try them? They may be nowhere near as spectacular as the image showed. Life can be just the same – just take a quick look on Facebook. The posts and images there tend to be the fun, happy moments, the highlights of our day or week. But, if we’re honest with ourselves, we have a whole lot of challenges in life that just aren’t reflected in those images. We need to keep it in perspective – we can appreciate the good and not linger on the things that don’t turn out the way we’d like.
Your ingredients matter – What you put into a recipe impacts what you get out. What you put into life, truly impacts what you get out. If something doesn’t work out, you make adjustments and keep going. If life isn’t ‘turning out’ the way you want, take a look at what consumes your time, what goes in to your daily life? What needs to change so that you like what you “make” at the end of the day?
I’m all for trying new recipes. It gets me out of the culinary funk that I can fall into. It wasn’t until this week pouring over recipes on Pinterest that the value of those new recipes hit home. As I try the recipes I’ve found this week, I’m refreshing my outlook on life. I’m not looking for it to be perfect, to stay in my comfort zone, or to like things exactly how they came out. But, I will look for the lessons, learn from what doesn’t work out, and I’ll focus on the basic, best ingredients.
If you’re looking for new recipes whether it’s for the kitchen or on being encouraged, why not sign up to get my blog regularly or check out my Pinterest. I’d love to have you join me there too.
I welcome your thoughts and comments. Join the conversation! What do you think about new recipes? Has my post made you ponder life a bit too? Let me know!
June 7, 2016
Driving 105 in a 65! What do you do when life comes at you too fast?
The past few weeks have been hectic. Still I promised my husband we could spend some time at the coast on a recent weekend. The scenic rocky southern shoreline of Maine is just over an hour away from home despite feeling worlds away. I welcomed the site of the deep blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean – therapy for my soul. As I soaked in the view, I had no idea of the scare waiting for me that day.
We lingered sitting on the rocks overlooking a picturesque lighthouse and we took our time in several quaint little shops before deciding it was time to head for home. My husband was feeling a bit tired after our adventures so I volunteered to drive the rental car we had given his was in the shop for repairs.
After soaking in the ocean view one last time, we headed towards home. The GPS guided us safely back to the highway where I merged into the heavy flow of traffic. Once on the highway I glanced down at the speedometer to check my speed.
“105” I shrieked.
The number generated instant panic. 105! A car sailed past me to the left. What? How? It didn’t make sense. It didn’t feel like we were going that fast. Still the giant 105 stared at me from the dashboard. “Somethings wrong I said,” just before I noticed something…
There were three tiny letters beneath the alarming numbers “kmh.”
Kilometers per hour?!? But then my mind raced – how fast am I going?
“I can’t drive like this!” I shouted to my husband. “How do we fix it?”
“Get the manual out of the glove box.” I suggested, hoping he’d find a setting to adjust.
“We’ll figure it out,” he reassured in a calm voice. “Just keep up with traffic while we figure it out.”
Despite knowing that we were headed in the right direction, I felt completely out of control. Unfamiliar with kilometers per hour, panic kicked in.
Thankfully it wasn’t long until we found a button on the dashboard that adjusted the settings back to miles per hour. The scary scene only lasted a few brief minute. But, it was long enough to remind me of several things we can do when life seems out of control.
Take inventory: Take a step back and ask what’s really true? It’s easy to be pulled into feeling stressed or panicked even when we don’t really need to be. In my situation, the speedometer said “panic” but the truth was that I was ok. Life can do the same. Our pace or troubles can pull us into a stressed tailspin. If we don’t know which issues require our immediate attention and what isn’t as bad as it seems, we might not use our resources the best way possible. Take time and take inventory.
Identify: Identify one or two things you can change or do immediately. Or, are there one or two things on your plate that can wait? The first thing you change might be choosing to take something off your plate for a day, a week, or more. Also identify where you can receive help or support. Make a list of resources, friends, family, or support groups that could help you.
Pray: Have you prayed about your situation? It’s easy to get caught up in the commotion of a stressed life and forget to do the obvious. The Bible even reminds us – You do not have because you do not ask God. – James 4:2b
Keep going: Don’t let life derail you. Keep making progress one step after the next. It’s easy to become stuck when life feels overwhelming. Don’t focus on the mountain, focus on the very next step.
Remember Comparison is dangerous. Although on the highway, seeing how fast others were driving seemed like a quick fix to see how we were doing, it’s a dangerous proposition. Gaging how we’re doing against others is a bad idea. Comparison can tell us we’re ok when we’re not, tell us we aren’t ok when we are, and can quickly pull us off track and put our focus in the wrong place.
Be persistent in your good choices because your choices add up. Often we make progress before we see that we’re making progress. Without a doubt, at 105 km/h we were making progress towards home. In life, we may make progress even if we’re not able to easily measure it. For example someone who changes their exercise and eating habits may not see the scale move immediately. But, with their changes, they are going in the right direction. The scale just isn’t meaningfully measuring their progress yet. Be persistent in your good choices. Eventually you will see the progress.
When in doubt, consult the manual. Had we not figured out which button adjusted the speedometer, the car’s manual would have been a lifesaver. In life, when we can’t figure out our troubles, the Bible is the manual to consult. The Bible is full of wisdom that has stood the test of time. I continue to be amazed by verses that can shed light on my difficult days and give me a bit of peace in the midst of my chaos. “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12
What would you do if you looked down to see 105? Have you ever felt that way in life – if so, what did you do? I’d love to hear from you!
April 19, 2016
Why do we take Facebook quizzes?
Copyright: antonioguillem / 123RF Photo
Can I confess something? Lately I can’t help but be intrigued by some of the crazy quizzes in my Facebook feed. I don’t really expect them to offer an answer to the deep philosophical questions in life, but sometimes I find myself compelled to click just to find out what it says about me.
The quizzes may ask questions or merely use your profile picture or posts to come up with their responses. Lately I’ve had quizzes tell me that I have “strong character” and I’m “unique. Yesterday one quiz even told me that based on my profile picture I look like I’m 25. Ha! No, I didn’t actually believe it, but it gave me a good laugh.
Maybe you’ve seen a few of these:
Which Cereal Mascot Are You?
Who is Your Coolest Friend?
Which Elton John Song Are You?
What’s Your Hidden Talent?
What’s Your Best Quality?
What State Do You Belong In?
Which Pizza Topping Are You?
The list of quizzes goes on and on. So why do we do it? Why do we click on these random quizzes, especially when we know the companies that build them do so to learn about us? A few of the main reasons we do:
Who am I? – We have an overwhelming desire to answer the age old question “Who am I?” Although we undoubtedly know that we aren’t a character from Harry Potter, somehow a quiz telling us which one we are makes us self-reflect even if just a little bit. A quiz may give us an awkward answer that we don’t really agree with (the quiz told me I was Neville Longbottom which was not a character I would have picked) but at the same time they seem to temper the “news” with more palatable feedback such as saying you’re “brave and big-hearted.”
Validation – We know something about ourselves, yet reading it feels validating. One recent survey claimed to determine how introverted or extroverted someone is. The responses filled my Facebook feed. Overall, most people’s comments were “Yup! Spot on!” Truly we don’t actually need a Facebook quiz to tell us if we’re introverted or not, yet reading it confirms what we already know about ourselves which can feel good.
Escape/Entertainment – Our schedules are packed. Life is busy. Sometimes we welcome a brief escape to the absurd or entertaining. The humor that some of these quizzes offer lighten the load by helping us to laugh and see a lighter side, even if for just a few minutes.
This week I did a bit of poking around on the internet to see why companies create these quizzes. In reality, despite the lighthearted titles, they really are big business designed as surveys. It turns out we’re actually more honest when someone asks a question on a quiz than when we’re responding to “a survey.” And, while many of us wouldn’t give a telemarketer or surveyor the time of day, the idea of receiving input to who am I, or receiving validation, or a brief escape sounds inviting. Companies have found when we like the response it gives us or it makes us laugh, we’re more likely to share it, causing our friends to want to willingly take their survey just to see what they get as a response.
Rather than click on the next Facebook quiz that shows up in your feed, why not consider the following first:
Ask yourself what you hope to gain from the quiz. Then ask, is this the best source for that? If you’re searching for insight into who you are, is a random quiz the best place for insight? Or could you learn more from another more reliable source? Then take a few minutes and consider one of these question:
What is important to me?
Who’s someone important to me?
How can I surprise or bless someone else this week?
What am I willing to do this week to make my future better?
What legacy do I want to leave?
Answering these questions may not give you a flashy post for your wall, but perhaps they’ll actually help you answer “who am I?” better than a Facebook quiz. And, when you share your responses with a friend or two, you’ll get true validation from friends who know you rather than from a survey designed to entice you. Thinking about these “quizzes” this way has impacted me. I really think I’ll think twice about doing them in the future. I plan to take my own advice and consider other alternatives.
What do you think? Have you been intrigued by Facebook quizzes? Do you think you’ll still do as many? I’d love to hear from you!
April 12, 2016
Yes, that’s peanut butter on my umbrella… What do you do when your day starts out all wrong?
Have you ever had a “how did I manage to get peanut butter on my umbrella” moment? Yeah, I kind of thought I might be the only one who’s had that happen.
Have you ever looked down and noticed you were wearing two different shoes? Yup, that’s happened to me too. Ok, maybe that’s never happened to you either. But, have you ever noticed that some days you can have a really long day, or a day when challenges come at you from all directions only to look up from your mess and realize it’s not even 9am yet?
I’ve had my share of “those” days.
To be honest, before this past week, I don’t think I ever used the words “peanut butter” and “umbrella” in the same sentence. I’m guessing you haven’t either.
It all started innocently enough. I was running late for work because I accidently turned my alarm clock off instead of hitting snooze. Rushing out the door I grabbed a slice of peanut butter toast to go. Glancing over I saw an umbrella on the floor. Remembering the forecast, I grabbed the umbrella and put it on the seat next to me so that I’d remember to take it along into the office. Moments later, I was on my way.
I planned to eat my breakfast as soon as I got down the road. The peanut butter toast was safely positioned next to my center console, the same center console that incidentally stopped my rolling umbrella when I rounded a bend near the end of my street. Hence, peanut butter on my umbrella.
For the rest of my commute, I thought about how some days seem destined to be ruined before they’ve really had a chance to start. Unanticipated frustrations slap us in the face tempting us to wave our proverbial white flag of surrender or cause us to consider writing the entire day off as a “bad day.”
But amidst my oversleeping, running late, peanut butter on my umbrella start to my day, I realized that even though the day hadn’t started the way I would like, it was still full of possible. Just because the morning found new ways to challenge me didn’t mean I needed to allow it to rob the potential for the rest of the day. Last I checked, a day had 24 hours in it. Why are we then so quick to label a day a bad day if just one of those hours doesn’t cooperate with our plan?
How do you turn it around?
1. Remind yourself that bad moments don’t mean the entire day is bad.
2. Look for the positive. Find the silver lining. When you search for the good in a day, you’ll find it.
3. Laugh about it. Find humor in the crazy things life comes up with like peanut butter on an umbrella.
4. Share with a friend who can help you keep your perspective.
5. Move on. Don’t dwell in the challenges. Instead view them as pot holes on the road of life and keep going.
The next time you have a day that is unraveling before your eyes, resist the urge to label the entire day as a bad day and look for the positive!
How about you…Have you ever worn two different shoes or landed peanut butter on your umbrella? How do you keep your perspective on difficult days? Or, did my story encourage you? I’d love to hear from you!
March 29, 2016
The next thing you might need to do – Stop Waiting!
“Hey Siri, set the timer for fourteen minutes,” Cookie Monster said at the beginning of a cute commercial I saw over the weekend. “Play waiting play list,” he then asks, prompting his phone to serenade him to the haunting lyrics Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle. “If I could save time in a bottle the first thing that I’d like to do…” The fuzzy blue puppet sets out to wait the excruciating wait for his cookies to be ready. Hoping to pass time, he flips the light on and off in the oven, plays with his oven mitts as puppets, flips through his cook book, plays with his measuring spoons, and eventually goes outside, only to peer longingly back into the kitchen through the window. After what seems to be an unbearable wait, he breaks down and asks his phone “Siri, check the timer.”
“13:09” displays.
It hasn’t even been one minute!
Although the commercial is for a phone, it illustrates a painful reality, waiting can be agonizingly difficult. In our fast-paced drive-through I-want-it-now world, when we find ourselves waiting, it’s hard! Like Cookie Monster, we’re frustrated with the incredibly slow pace of time between us and what we want or where we want to be.
But, what if I told you sometimes waiting is so hard because we’re waiting when we don’t have to? We let our fears or insecurities get in the way. We’re not waiting because we’ve gotten the answer “not yet” to prayer but instead because somewhere deep down we think things will be easier or more convenient later. We self-impose our timeline on God’s plan for us. We say we’ll start next week, on Monday, next month, in the summer, we’ll start, we’ll move, we’ll go, we’ll do…when…
And we wait.
We may wait to be grateful or happy. We might wait to pursue our goals. We wait in situations – relationships, jobs, or other circumstances that we know aren’t good for us, longing to be happier wishing things would change but we do nothing because… we’re waiting for a different day, a ‘sign’ or even just for it to be easier.
We wait to close a chapter that would allow the fresh start we need. We wait to better ourselves or our lives because we might not think we’re worth the effort. We wait to step up to the plate to try. We wait to be happy, to forgive, or to trust that God is bigger than the mountains we see. We tell ourselves because we can’t see much of the path, we should wait. But often God wants us to move when we only see one step, the very next step.
Are you waiting today? Are you waiting because that’s the answer God’s given you – or has He been nudging you?
Today I want to challenge you. Unless God has told you to wait, stop waiting.
Stop waiting for Friday, or for next week make that change you’ve been thinking about.
Stop waiting next for vacation or for summer to be happy.
Stop waiting to hear ‘I’m sorry’ before you forgive. You’re the one who will be freed.
Stop waiting for God to move a mountain and trust Him with your very next step.
Stop waiting to be happy, to feel joy, or to love, there are people you will encounter today that need your smile or your kindness.
There is a desperate world around you hungry for what you have to offer.
Stop waiting.
Say thank you and stop waiting to nurture a grateful heart it will change how you see the world.
Stop waiting to share your talents to help someone in a way that only you can.
Stop waiting for an invitation to the next chapter of your life, begin writing it today,
Stop waiting.
Stop waiting to do something that’s “perfect” because perfection paralyze your progress,
Life is waiting,
Your purpose is waiting,
Stop waiting.
If you’ve ever been like Cookie Monster, stuck feeling as though time isn’t moving and you’re doomed to wait, pray for discernment. Unless God answers wait, stop waiting.
I’d love to hear what you think. Do you find waiting hard too? And, do you ever find yourself waiting long after you’ve been nudged to move?
Stop waiting to be happy, to be engaged, and embrace life! Have a great week! And, don’t forget to let me know what you think of my new website.
March 19, 2016
The surprise I found in the big box behind the couch.
I couldn’t help but notice the rather over-sized box tucked behind the couch in the living room after school one day. “Whose was it?” Curiosity instantly got the best of me… I had to peek. I crawled up on the couch, leaned over and flipped the tag. “To Karen.”
It was just a few weeks before Christmas and I wanted to biggest box I’d ever seen to be for me. But instead of my name on the tag, it was my sister’s.
A few weeks later on Christmas morning, imagine my surprise when the large wrapped box from behind the couch was on my pile of gifts with a new tag “to Susan!” The gift was for me! Inside was a Raggedy Ann doll nearly as big as I was! I had never seen one so big!
Have you ever wished something could be yours, only to find it was intended for you all along?
In early March I met a new friend at a women’s event in North Carolina. Someone had bought my book for her because they could tell that she needed it. As we talked, she said the reason my book seemed appealing to her was that my story was real, and I’m real. Almost in disbelief, she looked at me and said “You’re here, and you’re happy.”
Intrigued, she wanted to know how I’d made it, how I had turned my life around from where I had been, and most of all how I had such hope. Over the next few minutes I shared with her how with each step of my journey God had provided exactly what I’d needed, one step at a time. Her eyes looked at me longingly desiring the same hope I had found.
The best thing is, the amazing gift of hope that God has, isn’t just for me, it’s for her and for you too! His love is bigger than any love we’ve ever seen before. His arms hold more hope than we can possibly imagine. When life is difficult, He provides exactly what we need… and the best part is, we don’t even need to wait until Easter or Christmas to open it up.
In the hallway of the busy conference I reminded her of a verse I’ve clung to over the years:
For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. — Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
He wants to give us hope. And, it’s part of His plan!! How reassuring is that?
When life is challenging, remember that big box behind my family’s couch with the name tag. Imagine the biggest possible box, one bigger than any you’ve ever seen. Your name is on the tag and it’s filled with God’s love and hope for you. What else is inside? His encouragement and reminders that you are never alone.
It was no coincidence that someone introduced me to the woman at the conference. Instead it was a precious gift to both of us. She received reassurance that someone had walked a similar journey and made it to the other side. I in turn was blessed by the many reminders of God’s faithfulness through challenges of my past.
Have you ever been surprised that something was meant for you all along like my gift? Or, has God surprised you with how big His hope, love, and encouragement can be? I’d love to hear from you!
And, I’d love to hear what you think about my new redesigned website! I’m happy to be back online with you again.
