Recipe For Life!

Recipe For Life!

©Allen Merritt (2016)

Hello and happy blog day.

What’s cooking?

Here I am again taking stock in all that is positive and thinking on how to maintain a contented and healthy well-being for all. I say that because I’m one of those people who believes if everyone tried to be kinder to themselves and others, we would all benefit and have a better day every day.

As I continue to observe, think and write tons of notes on positive living initiatives, I find I have more than my fair share of ideas written on several pieces of paper stuffed all over the house in book bags, note pads, napkins, cell phone voice recorders, as well as on my main computer and laptop. Ideas are everywhere and I have yet to write out all my thoughts on many of them. In the daily grind of living, bouncing to and fro doing this and that stuff gets scattered and eventually you come back around to them. I think that may be a good thing, because it gives a person time to stew on it a while. But it also contributes to a household of more clutter, which is funny on the one hand and inconvenient on another. I wouldn’t be surprised if many thoughts get lost in the shuffle. If they do, I look on the bright side and tell myself if it was an important enough iddea, it'll come back to the forefront of my thoughts.

Anyway, I ran across a sheet of paper while cleaning up yesterday. At the top of the page it read, “Ingredients for Life.”  I don’t know when I made the list, but it jumped out at me and I decided it was time to explore the meaning of it and discuss it.

I guess if I have to assess it, the idea leads me to the kitchen and a cooking analogy. Ingredients refer to everything that makes up our day to day. And, as life changes and moves with its’ ebb and flow, those ingredients change and before you know it life has several recipes for living in various situations. Change the environment, the attitude, the people and any situation and a new recipe is born.

Remember the phrases, “Kill them with kindness” and “You can catch more flies with honey?” I think these thoughts/phrases share the idea of adding just the right amount of this and that into our recipes to make a perfect dish, so to speak. It’s like adding the perfect amount of seasoning. Too much salt is never healthy, but too little isn’t good either. You need a little salt in life. AND, you also need just the right amount of pepper.

It appears to me that some ingredients are necessary for all recipes. I decided to make a list of important elements and share them below. They are in no particular order. Take a peek and compare them with your own thoughts and personal experiences and see if any of them fit in to your own philosophy for living or daily routine.Would any of these fit into your recipe?

• Laughter
• Plenty of Rest
• Comfort
• Sense of Contentedness
• Love
• Sense of Caring
• Appreciation
• Calm/Tranquility
• Imagination
• Dreams/Goals
• Music
• Warmth
• Sunny days
• Courteousness
• Consideration
• Communication
• Follow up and Follow through

In no way do these constituents complete a recipe. They are only elements aide in fulfilling a happy life. Wouldn’t you agree? I am sure the list goes on and on varying with our individual differences and circumstances

These components need to be mixed and measured accordingly with each step we take.

With this in mind, take a moment to consider what ingredients are important to you for making a perfect recipe for living the best life you can right here and right now. Jot down your own recipe! Make your own list and put on the refrigerator and glance at it throughout the week and see if it makes a difference in enhancing perspective and outlook.

Get to cooking!

Go out there and enjoy a week of living life on a positive note.

Cheers!