Twice in the last week I have been reminded of a story that I had once shared before. The story is about how a father handles a family situation and teaches his son a valuable lesson, thus reminding me how important it is.
Burned Biscuits - A lesson we all should learn.
When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!
All my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that ugly burned biscuit. He ate every bite of that thing...never made a face nor uttered a word about it!
All my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that ugly burned biscuit. He ate every bite of that thing...never made a face nor uttered a word about it!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said, "Honey, I love burned biscuits every now and then."
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Mom put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides--a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"
As I've grown older, I've thought about that many times. Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people.
I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
As I've grown older, I've thought about that many times. Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people.
I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
I am thankful for parables such as this that help me keep life in perspective. I can only endeavor to be the man in the story. As I have been reminded the burnt biscuits were made with the same love as non burned ones and who am I to discourage or demean the intent of the biscuit baker. In fact, it's really my responsibility to acknowledge the effort and recognize that they gave of themselves whether it came out the way they intended or that I would have preferred. I know I am far from perfect and weak as the next person with the ability to succumb to the continual onslaught of negativity around us. Believe me, I don't live in some fairy tale world where happy memes and kumbaya hugfests will make everything better, but for me, I have found it is helpful to look at the positive side of things. The glass isn't half full or half empty, I'm just happy to have something in it. (I'm working on filling that shit until it's overflowing though) Unfortunately, it doesn't always happen and occasionally I find myself circling back to correct my initial action (read reaction) but at least I am learning and willing to change the things I can, especially for those that mean the most to me. The people in my corner that love and encourage me deserve nothing less than my best and most positive attempt and hopefully while fulfilling that duty it brushes off on one or two others I come into contact with. I can promise you it has helped with my sanity over the past few years and I will keep working on it.
Now I just need to figure out how to not get upset and argue with those that constantly want to complain and bitch about everything they come into contact with or the ones that perpetuate lies to bolster their one sided opinion, but that's for another day. ;-)
Until next time....
