Taking Chances (Or the Worst Thing That Can Happen to Banana Bread)
I was craving something sweet this morning. Since we had a few very ripe bananas in the kitchen, the answer seemed obvious: banana bread. There was only one problem – we had no butter. Oh, and another problem: no margarine or apple sauce to substitute for butter.
My first response to this crisis was full of regret: “I wish I had butter…”
The second reaction was a vague recollection that plain yogurt can be used as a substitute for something in baking, and maybe, just maybe that “something” is butter.
So, I googled. The general consensus online seemed to be that yogurt can’t substitute butter in baking, although a few people said it may be ok. I wondered: what’s the worst thing that can happen if I make the substitution? Hmmm… Not sure.
So, I decided to take my chances.
When the banana bread came out of the oven, I saw that the worst did happen:
the banana bread came out FLAT!!!
[big gasp, elevated heart rate]
In the past, the worst thing that happened to my banana bread was that it was round, since I didn’t have the rectangular baking mold at hand. (Scandalous!!!) It turned out that the round banana bread tasted just as good and looked just as beautiful as the rectangular kind, so “round’ became my new standard. But FLAT?! That’s as bad as things could get when it came to banana bread.
It smelled good, though, so I tried a piece.
It was DELICIOUS! Maybe not Perfect (whatever that means), maybe not The Best Ever, but nevertheless, delicious.
When you are craving for something, and don’t have all the ingredients to make it happen, take a chance. To make this leap of faith safer, ask yourself two consecutive questions:
What’s the worst thing that can happen if I do this?
… and
2. So what?
For example:
“What’s the worst thing that can happen if I speak up at a meeting when I’m only 75% sure that my information is correct?”
“Someone may point out that I’m incorrect, and I’ll feel embarrassed.”
“So what?”
“So I’ll feel bad all day and will be more reluctant to speak up at future meetings.”
The catch is that this reaction is a choice.
What other choices do you have? Perhaps, thank that person for providing accurate information on the topic and discuss together how to move forward. Or, give yourself 5 minutes to sulk, and choose to move on after that. Keep brainstorming for options, because they are abundant.
What I learned this morning is that the taste of flat banana bread in my mouth was much sweeter than the taste of the words “I wish I had butter…”.
Take a chance, and notice how sweet freedom tastes in comparison to regret.