How Does Life Taste To You?

When we go to a restaurant that we've never been to before, we typically look at the entire menu first and then make a choice. Sometimes someone else (friend or waiter) recommends a dish, but usually we choose our meal based on how we think it will taste according to the ingredients on the menu and the restaurant's reputation.

Once everyone's food comes, oftentimes, we start to second guess our choice. Without even tasting our own meal, we look around at how other people's meals look and smell, and begin to think to ourselves, "I should have got that." The crazy thing is that we aren't the only one thinking that; everyone at the table is thinking the exact same thing. As a result, nobody is really satisfied with their choice and our own meal doesn't taste as good because we're all constantly thinking about how good the next person's meal taste.

Many of us experience life the same we experience dining. It's always greener on the other side of the fence. We compare and covet our neighbors' lives without being fully aware of the ingredients that make up their lives, how satisfying or dissatisfying their lives are to them, or how our life truly taste. We never know who is or isn't truly happy with the life before them because those who aren't happy pretend they are so that they don't look bad.

Though restaurants should have picture menus instead of word-based menus, it's also important not to judge a book by its cover or in this case, a meal by its grubber. We have to remember that taste transcends look and smell and we all have different tastes. What looks, smells, and tastes good to someone else may not taste good to you.

Finally, the thing that we tend to forget most is that the fundamental purpose of food is to energize. Even taste is secondary to energy. The most elementary explanation of eating is that plants and animals sacrifice their life force so that we can live. In the same way, the goodness of one's life should be measured by how much love (the highest form of positive energy) it creates in the heavenly body of Mother Earth despite how it looks, smells, or taste to others.

How does your life taste to you?

Grocery List Goals

Have you ever gone grocery shopping, spent over $150 on a basket full of stuff with a receipt down to your ankles, got home, unpacked the food, and then looked in the refrigeration and felt like there was absolutely nothing to eat? This is what happens when we don’t go grocery shopping with meals in mind. Instead, many of us go the grocery store with a meaningless list. Though we buy everything on our list, they are mere ingredients and side dishes to the main course. As a result, our stomachs end up growling and unfulfilled.

Many of us live life in a similar fashion. We have to do lists without visions. We browse through the aisles of life and fill our baskets to the brim with canned good experiences that are supposed to satisfy our spirits and fulfill us. Oftentimes, our lists looks exactly like our parents’ list because we’ve bought into their definition of success. It is not until we start to hunger for life ourselves after years of pizza, ramen, and cereal, that we enter the cupboard of our own consciousness and realize that nothing we bought was purely our choice or purchased with a meal in mind. As a result, our spirits are left unfulfilled, growling for a healthy meal that will energize instead of enervate.

When grocery shopping, our main course should guide what we put on our grocery list and ultimately what we choose to buy. In life, our vision should influence our daily, weekly, and long-term goals and ultimately every choice we make. Don't go through life with grocery list goals; Have meals in mind. Begin with the end in mind…or else don’t mind the end.

Throughout our lives, we have all come up with great ideas. What if...Why isn't there...Imagine a world where...But merely coming up with great ideas is meaningless unless we know what to do with them when we get them. How many great ideas have you let spoil in your mind? Raw ideas expire because we don't truly believe in the idea and/or we don't believe in our own ability to manifest the idea. Like food, ideas have expiration dates and we need to treat them in a similar way.

1. Cook them:

Some ideas need to be put the fire. Place the idea in the conversation pot and let it marinate. Stir gently every 2-3 minutes. After 10 minutes, apply the simmering heat of pessimistic questions, but be careful not to allow the raw idea to burn. Cover the pot when the idea has started to boil and let it stand until it is ready.

2. Freeze them:

Some ideas are so far ahead of there time that they need to be frozen for later use. They will be valuable later, but the world isn't ready yet. Many great ideas are dependent on advances in technology (ie faster, cheaper) or shifts in the market (ie law, regulations, consciousness) that may not change for years. When ideas are frozen, there is uncertainty about whether they will be useful in the future or not. Anything left in the freezer too long can get outdated. For ideas that may succeed in the short term, simply refrigerate them, but make sure to use them before they spoil.

3. Let them sit:

Like fruit, sometimes idea simply aren't ripe yet and then just need a little bit of time to mature into their full state. Just make sure you watch the idea carefully and take full advantage of it when it is at its sweetest.

4. Give them away:

There are cases when you just might have too many ideas and/or you may have a hot idea but you know that you aren't the one to execute it. If either of these cases arise, don't try to hold onto the idea and rob the world. Instead, share. Give the ideas to people you know who may value them and put them to use. Even if the idea that came through you, but you aren't passionate about it, there are still ways to capture value if you initiate the manifestation. People like song writers that can't sing have made careers out of doing this.

At the very least, preserve your ideas by writing them down. Keep a pen and pad near your bed for those midnight and morning ideas. Explore the idea by taking an hour to see if you're just crazy or if the idea really makes sense.

1. Competition: Browse the internet to see if anyone is doing anything similar
2. Startup Costs: Investigate how much it might costs to get started
3. Market Size: Estimate how many people might benefit from it

Each idea could be the one. Don't let any idea (especially your $1 million one) spoil.

All throughout life we’ve seen other people fall. On YouTube, some of the top videos are skateboard crashes and accidents. When we see people fall, oftentimes we laugh. We also see people fall spiritually. Nations are at war and oppressing one another. Individuals are suffering from addictions, self-hate, alcoholism, and all of the other isms in the world. The funny thing is that we are just as vulnerable as those we’ve seen and see falling.

The true test of one’s character is not whether or not one laughed. The true test of one’s character is whether or not they picked up the banana peel. We’ve all slipped on banana peels in our own lives or have seen others slip on ones that were in our reach. But have we tried picked them up? By “them” I mean the person and the peel. To only pick up the person and leave the peel means that someone else will likely fall in the same way. There is glory and heroism in picking the person up. It makes us feel good. But eventually guilt sets in because we know that the root cause of the problem still exists.

We are a gifted and talented generation. Let us not be like some who have come before us and rely on charity. Charity is convenient; true change is challenging. May we use our gifts and talents to hack at the root causes, the banana peels of our society, that make our brothers, sisters, and ourselves fall. If each of us simply picked up the peels that we’ve seen, slipped on, or unconsciously threw on the ground, the world would be a better place. There is a reason we all fall; It’s God’s way of saying pick up the peel.

Live purposefully!

We have all had the experience of trying to twist the top off of the jelly jar until our hands turn sore and red. After trying, trying, and trying again, we finally decided to give up. As if planned, the moment we decide to give up, someone enters the kitchen and offers to help. Without saying a word, they reach for the jar and effortlessly twist it open. As the jar top rattles to halt on the kitchen counter, thoughts raced through our minds like:

“That’s not fair. I loosened it up for you.”

“All I needed was one more good twist.”

At some point in our life, each of us has had a world changing idea sealed in the jar of our mind. The challenge lies in releasing the full potential of the idea. Some of us don’t bother to twist and next person sees the opportunity we passed on and opens it to the world. Some of us twist timidly. We value ease and comfort so much that they outweigh the invaluable contents within the jar.

Some of us are still twisting and I encourage you to continue. Hidden inside that jar is your full potential, your golden ticket, your purpose. Stop at nothing to reach it. Twist, twist, twist until the top pops off.

In the midst of our daily struggle with life, progress can be hard to see. As a result, others may laugh, doubt, and dissuade, usually because they’ve given up on finding the treasure inside themselves. Instead of fighting life, be open to it, and your impact will spread. Learn to appreciate life’s challenges because they make the substance of life sweeter. Oftentimes, the difference between being average and great is one more twist.

Live purposefully!