My sisters and I made a cake once (okay, actually a lot more times than once). This particular time it was a two layer cake. When we finally got the baking sheets from the oven one of the layers was slanted.
To make matters worse it tore when we went to get it out of the pan.
Our hearts 8, 10, and 11 year old hearts tore, too.
Then mommy suggested we use extra frosting to put the torn cake back together and make the layers even by adding some candy for height in between.
More frosting?
Extra some candy?
You got it!
It was the best not-gone-as-planned cake ever!
I tell you that story because I had a day like that this week. Normally those days end in a puddle or too much TV and dessert. Definitely not with the mark of pride and productivity. But this week that’s exactly how it ended.
I’ve been trying to reverse engineer the “magic” but I keep coming back to the three thing I learned while saving that messed up cake.
We persevered.
We made the best of what we had.
We kept our focus on the goal.
I persevered.
Y’all the day started going wrong at 8:45am, but every time I turned around I told myself, “I will not throw in the towel on this day. This day has too much to offer. This day isn’t finished yet.”
Clearly the day wasn’t the way I planned it but that didn’t mean it had to be a wash or a wreck.
I made the best of what I had.
So the day wasn’t going as planned, but I was still earning money, I still had a cute dress in my bag to wear after work, I still had tacos with a friend planned for dinner.
So the day wasn’t going as planned but I could still smile and be nice to guests, I could still write words that improved businesses bottom-line, I could still work give it my all at crossfit.
All those things were true. Just like the cake that baked all wonky and the buttercream frosting waiting to save the day.
But so were my feelings of wanting to go home and crawl in bed and just start again tomorrow. So were my feelings of, “this day has already gone so wrong I’m sure only wrong words will spill out of me onto this page”, and so were my feelings of “a pretty dress can’t make this day feel any better.”
I kept my focus on the goal.
But I kept asking myself, “What would make me feel good about myself right now?”.
And everytime I asked that question the answer was, smile at the people you’re with, put that dress on and feel like a million bucks, sit your butt in that chair and write even if only bad words come out or a 30min project takes you two hours, get yourself to the crossfit class and eat those tacos like they’re on your meal plan!
So that’s what I did.
One feeling at a time.
One question at a time.
One decision at a time.
Everytime I wanted to give up on the day, I’d ask myself that question again. Everytime I asked that question I waited until I found an answer that resonated with my soul. Everytime I found that answer I acted on that answer until my feelings got in the way, again. Then I took it from the top.
My sisters and I didn’t make the best ever not-gone-as-planned cake all at once or because we meant it to be that way. We made it step by step, layer by layer, best-decision by best-decision.
I didn’t make it through my best ever not-gone-as-planned day all at once or because I meant it to be that way. I made it feeling by feeling, decision by decision, action by action. It was deliberate. It was delicate.
I’m pretty sure someone asked us for the recipe for that cake after we served it. Of course, there wasn’t a recipe, unless you consider not-going-as-planned an ingredient. It was a cake that couldn’t be recreated.
I know too that this was a day that can’t be re-created (and I can’t say I’m too disappointed about that). But if I ever have a not-going-as-planned day again (which I’m sure is very likely) or you have one too I want us to hold on to these thoughts with the hope that we’ll give that day our best shot.
And maybe, just maybe we’ll end it with the feelings of pride and productivity knowing we persevered, made the best of what we had, and kept our eyes on the goal.