Life Is Like Cooking Bacon And Eggs

Life is like cooking bacon and eggs without a shirt on. Why is that? Well, let’s think about the process one goes through when cooking bacon and eggs.

After picking out the frying pans, next is to consider what version of eggs to cook. Scrambled, poached, fried (sunny side up, over easy), omelet, boiled? Do we add vegetables, or cheese? Which kind of cheese: American, Swiss, Pepperjack? Broccoli, onions, asparagus, carrots?

So many choices, so little time.

Having sifted through the refrigerator, checking out the ‘best before’ dates, and smelling and squeezing all the ingredients, we are now ready to cook the eggs. The first choices made, now it’s time to take action. What is the timing between starting the eggs and bacon: separate pans or combined? How crispy do we like our bacon?

Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever ~ Keri Russell

Burners turned on. We start the eggs and vegetables. Now preparing the bacon pan. We notice the eggs and vegetables are ready, but the bacon isn’t. Oh no! Too many options. Procrastinated. Mental overload. Even reading these tasks stresses me out.

Let’s take a deep breath and survey our situation. What do we see? Turn down the burner for the eggs, turn up the burner on the bacon. We hear the snaps of the hot oil or grease from the bacon. We ignore the warnings. Ouch! Hot oil hits us on the wrist, as we turn over the bacon rashers. Snap! Hot oil hits our belly. Ouch! Snap again.

Reflexes force us back, but only for a moment. Seems like the oil is out of control. Oh no! We cremated the bacon. Over-cooked charcoal, brittle, no flavor or texture. Need to throw in the trash? No. Charcoal is good for you, I once read that in a natural healing cook book.

Now, we take the eggs and bacon and combine them onto a dinner plate and sit down to eat. The eggs are cold, bacon is okay. Regardless, we choose to eat the breakfast, as we do need food. We will do better next time, we say. As we leave to get dressed to go to work, we see many red welts on our bodies. The oil has left evidence of our discomfort during breakfast time. Yet, the day is just starting for us.

So, you may ask how the description above is any reflection of life? Since thoughts come from the conscious and subconscious parts of our mind, we can look at life in a new way. Upon receipt of a thought we analyze and take some action. “Man I’m hungry. Bacon and eggs. I’m on it”. We dig out the pans.

In life, whether in a meeting, conversation, assigned a project, we process what we feel, see, hear, smell, taste. That can then trigger an emotion, which then leads to the processing of more thoughts. Each creates a cycle, a pattern, and a decision-making process. To discard the thought is a decision too, but we want to take action on leading a more fulfilled life.

We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals ~ Stephen Covey

What are your dreams, desires and aspirations? What resources do you have, or need to find, or develop? These are the ingredients for your life journey. It’s the bacon, eggs, cheese and vegetables. Swapping ingredients, testing if they are good enough to use represent these resources. Finding mentors, a joyful relationship.

The timing in life for new career, new relationship, lifestyle change is your choice too. It may be forced upon you though. That is the hot oil hitting your belly. Loss of relationship, career, divorce, financial demise and many other experiences. You may have no immediate control over these experiences, so you go back to emotions and thoughts.

Why is it important to go back to emotions and thoughts? Often life’s dynamics trigger bad decisions or behaviors during our speed bumps and detours. Getting a handle on ourselves helps us stay focused, by ensuring we honor our core values. Without this focus we cremate our bacon, we delay our timing of change and we trash what we started. We are burned out, or simply burnt. That awesome inspirational thought of career, love, financial freedom, and joy gets lost.

So, put on your shirt. Go and find the perfect eggs and bacon. Without the discomfort.