Whatley: table for two

Concord has lots or restaurants! If you are in the mood for anything at all, we've got it. Ruby Tuesdays, Olive Garden, Crackle Barrel, Long Horn, Carrabas, Applebees, Red Lobster, and many more are on one strip leading the way to the Concord Mills..(a shoppers dream). The problem is that Shane and I get bored with the chain restaurants and try to make it a mission to find somewhere new and different, smaller and less commercialized. We like the experience of eating out just as much as the food.

This week I was thrilled to find out that a locally owned restaurant had just opened a few miles down the road. We made a date to go there Saturday night. As we drove up to the restaurant I "ooed" and "ahhed" at the unique look of the building. A fire was built and heaters were placed on a beautiful candle lit porch. The hostess greated us warmly and took our names. While we waited for the table, my taste buds began to dance with excitement as I watched other guest's entrees come out of the kitchen.

A team of wait staff dressed in all black presented the tables with beautiful displays of mouth watering food. The sauce was poured in fancy designs around the elegant square white plate. I quickly glanced at the menu to make sure we were in our price range. Whew... safe. Even the restrooms had a feel of significance. "This is my new favorite place!", I announced to Shane as the hostess walked us to the table. "You haven't even eaten the food yet" he jokingly reminded me.

After we ordered I stalked other people's plates of food. Eyeing every dish and planning the different meals I would get each time we came back. When our stufffed chicken and pork loin came to the table I could hardly wait to dig in. As it usually is when we eat, silence filled the table.

I'll cut to it.... the mash potatoes were cold and without flavor. The chicken was dry and stuffed with one leaf of spinach from what I could tell. I chewed slowly looking at my plate. I didn't want to express my disappointment and ruin the positive feel. I looked at Shane who was smiling. "How is it?"

"Not good" I admitted.

"Mine isn't either". And we both laughed.

Shane's pork loin was burnt, dry and also without flavor.

What a bummer! The presentation was so awesome, the building so inviting, the wait staff so friendly... how could the food be such a disappointment?

While presentation is important, it never matters unless the product has quality. I am sure you have visited a 'rough' looking place on the outside that quickly turns into your favorite restaurant. What sold it? The food of course.

Today focus on the quality of your work and time with others. Instead of running late to an appointment trying to fix your hair, go with unfixed hair and be centered at the meeting. Don't try to guess what to say to a friend in need, instead just listen and focus on the quality of hearing her words. If things go off schedule, remember to be flexible and think of the importance of your attitude, rather than the calendar. When hosting a dinner or small gathering your guests will leave reflecting your attitude from the night. If you are warm, honest and focused on their company, they will leave the same. But, if you fuss about the dust bunnies, the dirty dishes or the paint on the walls you don't agree with... they will depart with that attitude.

The end result in work and life has more to do with the quality of the person than his presentation. Don't try to dress up a poor meal, instead focus on improving the dish.

I love mornings like this. I went to bed early and thanks to the hour we gained I feel rested and alert when the rest of the world appears to still be sleeping. Tip toeing out of the bedroom and through the house I take a seat next to the window, ready to observe the world in it's peaceful, natural state. My goal is not to be heard or noticed.
Sadie, my normally energetic cat, props up on the hand made afghan, carelessly thrown on the couch. She starts going in circles, making her spot appropriate to lie in. When she is satisfied with her resting place, her body curls up in a ball, placing her head between her paws.
I hear a noise and turn to see my other cat, Daisy, scraping the ground in front of her food bowl. As if she is covering her food in the wild, Daisy scratches all around her food bowl. Amazing how they are conditioned to do these survival tricks having never spent a day in the wild. Our dog, Wyatt, sits on the porch, alert, but with every muscle still. No doubt staring at the squirrel that has entered his territory below.
The birds, the squirrels, even the breeze, all appear different, mysterious and exciting when I take the time to silently notice it. I know that the world will wake up soon. Alarms will go off, the cars will start, the TV's will turn on, the lawn mowers will begin and we will all assume that we 'own' this world.
What's that saying about assuming?
Don't make and ass out of you and me.
My goal as I begin a new week is to stop assuming that the world is mine. That my goals are all that is important. That my ways of living are the 'correct' or 'proper' ones. That I am in the only one in this world with an agenda.
Go about your business today... turn on the TV, cut your grass, do all the things you would normally do. Take a second to remember that you are merely a part of the world, not there to own it. Share this space we have been given and be patient with all the world's inhabitants. Embrace in the diversity of people and things and remember you are just one among them, not an authority over them.
Happy Sunday!

This too shall pass

I believe everyone should have a motto. A personal saying engraved in memory used to coach us through events in our lives. I say several throughout the day..... "One step at a time".... "You are doing the best you can". These words calm me down when my stress level starts to rise. I think our brain doesn't automatically know when to slow down... we have to tell it too.
"This too shall pass" is one of my personal favorites. I first began to use this saying when grief or hard times were in my life. Acknowledging that the pain could not last forever allowed me to renew faith and hope that good things were around the corner. It made the dark tunnel a little more bearable. It prevented pain to evolve into suffering.
In the cycle of life, pain is not the only thing that passes. We feel pain and grief because it slams into us and knocks us to our knees. It is a force that refuses to be ignored. The happy times, however, seem to elude us. It doesn't knock us down in the way pain does. In fact, we often have to embrace it ourselves before we can feel the full impact of the good things around us. Otherwise it is, and feels, at a distance.
I have never heard of a drought, storm or fire lasting forever. Have you? Thank goodness they pass.
Neither have I heard of a rainbow lasting forever.
This weekend think about the words, "This too shall pass" to acknowledge that the circumstances in your life will change. Tomorrow, today will be a memory.. Appreciate the good things, the gifts, the blessings in your life. Take time to notice them and celebrate their existence! Don't drive right past the rainbow... pull over and experience it for a moment.