Still, I rise...

 

Here's the perfect description of the present-day situation... Still, I rise. (Photo credit: Maya Angelou)

Last night was one hell of a difficult one. You get to a point where you begin to doubt yourself; you feel you’re a great cook but the occasion is huge and you need support. It’s the Princess’s wedding and no margin for error, who accounts for the excess locust bean?

You don’t make the decisions on the ingredients, maybe you have a big budget and it’s even a problem but you prayed for the gig and would rather focus on getting it over the line so you can stop leaving home at 4am while dodging your landlord…

Mistakes are part of the things that make us human, and excuses are part of the things that make us failures; I’m afraid of the mirror, to be honest, and that’s because I don’t want to see the same thing over again. When they say life is fickle, remember the ones trying hard to stay in it.

The famous old “swim or sink” parable comes to play here but who has been handed the scroll to read? It can only be fair if it’s one of the guests that tasted the meal. Again, you need to remember taste buds act differently, is this a thing of prayer, luck, or grace?

You signed the dotted lines and then have to deal with the market; where everyone promises fresh tomatoes and onions. You have to deal with the red oil merchant that swore hers is the best and then the mallam’s kiosk down the street for emergencies, it always happens.

When the hangman gets the instructions, and raw shreds of evidence of a bad meal stare you in the face, do you turn to the mercenaries and ask if one replaces you, or do you dash to the market to seek the culprit? Do you find words that could make you live another day or, do you even want to at all?

The rulers of neighboring cities that stopped by in their full regalia, bearing baskets of gifts deserve better than your offerings; look into the eyes of the king, he isn’t asking you for a refund, he simply wants to know if you were paid to ruin his day, look at the daughter… any words?

The choices are clear… There’s a convenient route, look behind you and blame the ones you suspect of sabotage, amplify the fact that you had problems converting shekels to shillings in the market, you might be lucky to have cowards like you on the bench…

Oh, I have an idea, look within, you’re good enough. You’re the best at what you do and there’s a reason the king trusted you in the first place. If you weren’t all that, knowing he wouldn’t get another chance to impress, why would he hand you his big day? You won’t run to fight another day, you will live and die by your decisions.

Wear your apron, it’s time to cook again.