Getting High on Recovery

This week we had three tiny fires on the same day. Keep an eye on the tiny fires, because something big is happening.

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Three fires in one day. That was a day.

Wednesday we had three fires, tiny fires. Tiny fires are easily forgotten but they carry a gift if you are ready for it.

Three fires in one day: burnt toast, burnt hamburgers and burnt cookies. And it’s no accident that all of the fires are food-related.

Burnt Toast

The first fire took place at breakfast. I wasn’t there when it happened, so it is not my fault. I found the wreckage in the garbage. Sometimes we throw out our mistakes too quickly. 

Burnt Hamburgers

This one is completely on me. It took place at supper and I can be a distracted chef. I was supposed to be watching the barbecue, but I found something more interesting: convincing my family to laugh at my stories.

The flames lasted only 30 seconds but they took an entire bottle of water to extinguish. This time, instead of throwing the burgers away we ate them. It is a sign of progress that you can tolerate some charring before you declare that something is unusable.

Burnt Cookies

The cookies were meant to be enjoyed as a dessert for my nieces wedding. Instead, they became a crispy family dessert. Imperfect gifts are sometimes the best gifts.

I find it fascinating that while I am a distracted chef, my wife’s excuse was that the oven suddenly became hotter. I will use that one next time… “Sorry officer, the car suddenly became faster.”

Three Tiny Fires, One Giant Take Away

Each of the fires were food-related and that is not a coincidence. Home made food is never perfect because we become distracted, we rush through steps and things get messy. Just like relationships.

It’s pretty obvious, but you have to open up if you want to eat something. And relationships are the same way, you have to open up if you want to have relationships that matter.

I don’t like relationships that are messy and spill onto everything else in my life. I hate the emotions, the drama and the unpredictable human stuff. I would rather just avoid it, but then the emotions just sit there and I become gassy And then I  do stupid things like eat too much, watch too much TV or I become stupid-busy.

This week taught me that change needs a spark. I hate that, but it is true. My week consisted of food fires, relationship fires and idea fires. It was a shitty-crappy week, but the sparks lit my way. I learned some things about myself and my relationships. My faith in people is a stronger now, and I am a more resilient.

Tiny fires can help you to Choose Yourself, and that will lead you to a bigger life.

Keep it Real

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Photos by meenakshi madhavan and smswaby.