Yesterday I came home to my daughter making a homemade butterscotch pie. She had never made one before, and she was determined to get it right. She had everything she needed, including the recipe and all ingredients laid across the counter. She rolled out the pie crust, pre-preheated the over, stirred together the filling on the stovetop. Despite her best efforts, she failed. She was frustrated, but she gathered the ingredients again and started again, only to fail. This time she was in tears. She didn't understand what she was doing wrong and was ready to give up. As eager as I was to have a clean kitchen and early bedtime, I knew this was an opportune time to use this as a teachable moment. In a meeting earlier that day, my boss told our team the importance of falling up. He reminded us that we have three options when facing adversity or failure. 1. We can make no change and keep going in circles.
2. We can shame ourselves and focus on everything we did wrong, which keeps us down.
3. We can learn from our hardship, adjust what needs to be changed, and move forward. This allows us to grow. After explaining this to my daughter, she decided to make her butterscotch pie one more. She read the recipe more carefully and googled the problem she was having with the pie. In an "ah-ha!" moment, she realized what she was missing and went to work. Although the kitchen was messier than before, she succeeded, and her butterscotch pie was perfection. She was on cloud nine as she cleaned up the kitchen and couldn't wait to share her masterpiece with family and friends. Sometimes life throws a lot more adversity than butterscotch pie problems, but the lesson is the same regardless of what we face. Whether it's work, marriage, parenting, We can stay the same, sink, or grow. The choice is ultimately up to you.
