Several years ago when I lived in Fort Lauderdale, I often enjoyed delicious meals prepared by a dear friend. This friend happened to be a chef and former restaurant owner. I remember one night I asked him how he was able to cook such tasty food. He said there’s no secret to it. Just use high quality ingredients and you will end up with delicious food. I’ve never forgotten his answer because it was so simple and so obvious. It’s not quite that simple for someone like me with extremely limited culinary skills, but I recently discovered the truth in his words.
Last month, my first attempt at creating a batch of vegetarian quinoa chili from a favorite recipe yielded only mediocre results. Since it was my first time making it solo, I did not want to invest a lot of money in the ingredients. The flavor of the end result reflected that. It didn’t help that during the first 30 seconds of preparation I had a small mishap while dicing an onion. It wasn’t an emergency room mishap, just a little pressure, elevation, and band-aid mishap. However, it felt like I had to prepare the chili with one hand tied behind my back. Have you ever tried to open new bottles of spices and manipulate a set of measuring spoons with one hand? It’s not easy!
Now that I had the experience of making one batch under my belt, last week I decided to heed my friend’s advice and buy organic and brand-name ingredients for my second one. I’m happy to report that this time there were no chopping or dicing incidents and the better ingredients did indeed make a better batch of chili. I was quite pleased with the results and have been enjoying delicious chili all week. Click this link for the recipe.
It occurred to me that my friend’s advice about cooking also applies to life. The recipe is simple. If you want a happy life you need to add happy ingredients. What kinds of things are you putting in your experience every day? Are you surrounded by people who love and support you? Are you eating foods that feel good in your belly? Are you listening to music that makes you want to dance? Are you watching movies and tv shows or reading books that help you feel hopeful?
I believe the most important ingredients to a happy life are our thoughts. Only the most loving, peaceful, creative, and inspired thoughts will produce the results we desire. Thoughts of unworthiness, blame, fear, and judgments will not make us happy. That would be like tossing rotten tomatoes into my chili and expecting it to taste yummy. It just doesn’t work that way. Although it seems simple and obvious, this metaphor has helped me to be more mindful of my thoughts and how I invest my time lately. I trust it will help you pick the best ingredients for your life too. If I can assist you with Spiritual Coaching or a private Family Constellations session, please reach out via my website at JohnHaroldMoore.com.
This week and beyond, may you place only the highest quality happy ingredients into your daily life and cook up your own batch of happiness.
The necessary condition for the holy instant does not require that you have no thoughts that are not pure. But it does require that you have none that you would keep.
A Course in Miracles ~ T-15.IV.9:1-2
