I remember the first time I made my grandmother’s homemade 7-up pound cake.  My grandmother was a well-known cook and baker in her town and gave me her recipe one summer when I was down for a visit.  I remember hearing her recite the recipe as I wrote it down.  There were times she had to stop and think because she had made the cake so many times, that she did a lot of the measurements without using measuring cups.  After I wrote the recipe down, I tucked it away to take home.  Several weeks or months later, I pulled out the recipe and decided to make my first homemade cake.  I followed it to the “T”.  I didn’t want to mess up and I remember re-reading it several times to make sure I was doing it right.  I was a little nervous too because I wanted it to be just like hers.

I followed the recipe and baked the cake and from what I remember, it turned out pretty good.  It was pretty close to hers.  I’ve made it several times since then and don’t have to rely on the recipe quite as much.

Sometimes, life becomes like baking a cake.  After we’ve traveled down a certain road so many times, we don’t feel we need to follow the “recipe”.  We can handle it on our own and make our own adjustments.  But sometimes those little tweaks and variances can mess up our journey.  We can learn a lot from following the recipe and doing what we are instructed to do.  That may be instructions from God (the bible), instructions from a teacher, instructions from a supervisor or mentor.  Even though, it may seem routine or maybe we’ve become overly familiar with the process, we can learn a lot from following the recipe unless we’ve been instructed to try something different.

Next time you’re tempted to go off course, leave the instruction manual on the shelf or try things “your way”, beware that you may not get the results you are hoping for.

~Coletta Jones Patterson

*If you need accountability, guidance and a fresh perspective in figuring out what recipe to follow or getting back on track with your goals, connect with me at info@moveu4ward.com. I’ll gladly take the journey with you as your certified personal development or executive coach! Together, we can help you move forward.