Lessons from the School of Hard Knocks

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5 years ago

Holiday Mess

With the holiday season quickly approaching, I often reflect back to the day that I had to prepare my very first holiday dinner. Reflecting back on the times when I did not know how to cook at that particular time helps me to stay focused on the goals that I have set for myself. It is because of my awful cooking skills in the beginning that has helped me to grow and become one of the best cooks in the family.

It was my first Thanksgiving out on my own and I had purchased a turkey and the items that I needed to prepare the dressing. So, I decided to get to work. Not knowing the first thing about cooking a turkey, I immediately called someone to ask the steps that I needed to take to get my turkey in the oven.

Utensils in hand, I took my time and unwrapped my new turkey and put it in a pan of cool water. Believe it or not, I was completely offended by the fact that I needed to “stick my hand inside of the cavity and remove the neck and the bag of giblets before washing and seasoning it.” As I pondered in my heart about the fact that I needed to remove those items first, I set my pan aside and decided to go ahead and prepare my dressing.

Voila! The cornbread came out looking pretty good and now it was time to tear the pan of bread up into small pieces; add my vegetables; the seasonings; and some extra water. After combining all of my ingredients I put the pan of cornbread back into the oven to finish cooking.

Meanwhile, I looked at this turkey and stared at it a few times turning the pan that I had placed it in around and around slowly. Long story short, that turkey never made it to the dinner table! Heck, it never even made it into the oven. I was so afraid to stick my hand inside of it to remove those items that I took the turkey and tossed it in the garbage outside the back door.

When my pan of dressing was ready, I carefully removed it from the oven with my new oven mitts and decided that I would give it a try. I used to always sample my own cooking before serving it to my family. I refused to serve them any food that did not taste right. Reluctantly, I had to throw my pan of dressing out too because I added entirely too much sage to it.

Holiday Blessed

I quickly prepared my first Thanksgiving dinner which consisted of fried bologna, lettuce, and miracle whip sandwiches and called the girls “dinner’s ready!” I shouted. Well, today my entire family loves my cooking. I have had much older family members call me and ask me how I make different dishes.

The errors that I made when I was younger during the early stages of preparing and cooking meals were discouraging. But at the same time I knew that giving up was not an option because I had two young growing girls to feed.

Each time I ruined a meal helped me to know what and what not to do the next time around to the point of perfection. I may have fallen down many times but I always managed to dust myself off and try again. I guess you can say that I learned to cook from the “School of Hard Knocks”

I believe that this story is one way of seeing the true value that we have here at Wealthy Affiliate. Never be afraid to make mistakes. If you make a mistake be sure to get back up dust yourself off and try again! In other words "Keep It Moving"! We have awesome mentors here who have “been there done that” that are available to help us to keep pushing ahead to our own personal greatness and success! Thank You Wealthy Affiliates!

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Cheers To Your Success!