Let me share with you lessons – learning lessons from the most unexpected circumstances!
Lesson of the Seed
The Lesson of the Seed is “You reap your harvest after you do the work.” You dig the soil and water the seed (effort), wait a while (patience) and then you pick your beans.
Effort + Patience = Results.
Simple, right?
Well, I baked brownies today.
I think I did what was instructed in the box. I waited for 45 minutes and took it out of the oven afterward.
Well, why was it that when I was about to cut it, I couldn’t?
It was so hard the metal bread knife will break when I tried to cut it! As in!!!
My mind looked back at what I did wrong. It did say 1/3 cup of oil, 1 egg, and 1/3 cup of water combined with the pouch mix! Was it the timing? Did I forget to put an egg?! or maybe I forgot to put water!!!
I must have done something wrong because of my results – a brownie-so-hard-you-can’t-eat-it!
Recalling what happened, I think I wasn’t really focused 100% when I baked it. I was all over the place watching TV, frying dried fish for breakfast and washing the dishes at the same time.
You know what? I think I did forget to put in 1/3 cup of water!!!
Baking brownies was the simplest thing ever but because I didn’t give my all, it was a flop!
Yes, after I did my work, I will reap my harvest. But the lesson of the seed didn’t mention the quality of the harvest!!!
Does the quality of the harvest matter?
Learning Lessons of the Brownies
Well, based on the lessons of the brownies, it does matter.
If I want to truly succeed in life, if I want to really achieve my dreams, if I want to make things to happen in my life, and I am putting an effort to do that, I believe it is also important to check the quality of work I am putting in to make it happen.
At the same time…
- I can’t just believe I will have the best brownies ever if I don’t put in a little effort to do that!
- I can’t just pray to God to give me the best brownies ever if I don’t put in a little effort to make it happen!
- I can’t just leave my brownies to chance that someday soon it will be the best brownies ever if I will not give a little effort to make it a reality!
I guess the lessons of the brownies is for all of us, don’t you think?
If we check the results we are getting, do we like what we see?
In our relationships? In our careers? In our plans? In our life in general?
BE-NOT-A-VICTIM
Sometimes no matter how we want to blame, point fingers and become the victim of our circumstances, let us not. Why? There are three reasons why.
First, our circumstances will not change.
Second, others will not change for us, even if he/she is someone we love dearly.
Third, what for?
The one most affected by our own results is us, not them. Oh, I am sure they have their own results to carry too!
The good news is we can always pray to God to give us some more time to change our results – to have better relationships, to have the career we love most, to make our plans and dreams come true and to live life fully.
And I thank God for that.
I thank God for time to change because that’s the only thing we can control. We can only control and change ourselves!
Our circumstances, the people around us will not change for us. But…
We can always change the way we see things, look at things from their perspective and do some adjustments.
STARTING ANEW
So, I am getting my brownies mix again.
1/3 cup vegetable oil – check
1/3 cup water – check
1 egg – check
350 degrees. 45 minutes – check.
Be patient.
And viola! The best brownies ever!
Yes, sometimes, it’s as simple as that too!
Reading your recipe, reminds me the Ghirardelli brownies that I usually bake. Last month, I experienced burnt brownies and I was shocked because I followed the instructions and even checked the temperature and I can’t think of any reasons why it happened. After few days, I bake again and I found out that my oven was the culprit, the thermostat is not working. 🙁
Oh I always tell that “You reap your harvest after you do the work.” quote to my son. He’s just 6 but I always remind him about seeding goodness and kindness. I hope he’ll put that in his young mind. Love this post as it’s inspire me to not give up.
I’m loving the insights you shared in this post! Some of us often have this tendency to blame our circumstances or the people around us if something bad happens. God is omiscient and omnipotent, but there is such a thing as consequences. Sometimes, bad things happen as consequences due to the things we did, so we must take responsibility for our actions!