Maybe Life is Perfect After All
Last night I watched my friend, Chef Carmen Gonzalez, go through what had to be one of the most gut-wrenching experiences of her career.
As a contender in the show “Top Chef Masters” on Bravo she, along with 4 other chefs, were challenged to come up with a soul-food dish for a celebrity birthday party. The chefs were timed having only very limited intervals to shop, prep and cook before the party.
When Carmen reached the hotel restaurant she realized that she had left her main dish, the oyster stew, back at the Top Chef Masters kitchen. By the time she went back to get it, she was left with only 1 hour to prepare for the party. Although some of her competitors were kind enough to try to help her, they had to divide their attention and ended up burning her complimentary vegetable. At this point Carmen debates dropping out of the contest and decides to just do the best she can with the stew that took her 1 1/2 hours to retrieve from the TCM kitchen.
At the birthday party she pours on the charm and serves up adorable cups of stew with a lovely garnish, (knowing that all the other chefs are presenting plates of soul food that had more diversity and looked much fancier than hers). In addition has to go through an embarrassing moment and own up to the judges that she is missing something in her presentation that should be there.
As it turns out, Carmen earned the most points for the challenge! The diners could appreciate the flavors and seasoning of the oyster stew because there was nothing to detract from the taste. The simple presentation allowed people savor her dish.
WOW!
As I watched this unfold last night, I first fought off an ulcer that was trying to take hold in the knot that was my stomach, then I fought back the tears of surprise and happiness when it was announced that Carmen had earned the most points.
‘Had trouble going to sleep last night. I kept thinking about how sometimes I feel like everything’s gone wrong… you know…. ‘bad days where everything you say & do in your house seems to be the wrong thing to say & do, or everyone around you at work is insinuating that you’re not as smart as you might think, you get left out of a group of friends & feel depressed or people seem to keep blowing their horns at you while you’re driving ’round to run errands.
But I believe it’s not about the perfection of each moment or each step in the process, it’s about the perfection of making the best with what we’re given.
Don’t give up on your dreams because you feel like you’ve done it all wrong or that you’ve made an irreversible mistake. Just move forward making the best with what you’re given.
Maybe life is perfect after all.