I’m back writing! While I took time off to mend, I missed all of you and writing this column. It was a challenge to allow myself the grace to know sometimes I have to take downtime. I don’t mean a vacation where I go non-stop, but actual time off when I do nothing. It’s a foreign concept to me, but fortunately, with all of the required support, I could rest easily. My shattered elbow is thanking me. I had left nothing for the surgeon and his team to work with except to wire the bone splinters together and reattach an errant ligament. I’m following directions, and recovery is moving slowly forward. This experience has reinforced the lesson that we have to advocate for ourselves or have an advocate. No one has the vested interest in healing that we do for our bodies.

Whenever faced with trauma, or an illness, I consider that it isn’t something happening to me; it represents an opportunity. I look inside the disease or trauma to see how I’m feeling. What am I to learn? In this instance, because presently I am slow with cooking tasks; some lessons have come from the kitchen.

Everyone needs a sous chef. We each need that person in our life that fills in where we can’t. They keep things running smoothly. Life sous chefs make or buy something and drop it off. They help us create something or check that we have the supplies we need. I don’t know how I would have managed without my many sous chefs these past five weeks, but one thing is true, my life is better because I accepted help. Be the sous chef in someone’s life and if you need assistance, be willing to receive it.

I have nearly mastered cracking a raw egg open with one hand without it splattered all over the kitchen! Learning this skill reminds us that life is messy. It takes practice and patience. Success lies not in being perfect but in being willing not to give up.

Cut large pieces of food into smaller pieces; they are easier to manage whether eating or cooking. Challenges in life are much easier to manage when broken down into parts. Keep the faith that all will come together the way it should. Don’t give up and believe in the mission.

Before beginning a recipe, ensure we have all the appliances required and every ingredient. Sometimes we can make up for what we lack, but here two life lessons apply. Haste makes waste, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

And finally, something that is hard to do with one hand is to manage the plastic tie tags that have a slot in them to push the bag into for sealing. “Twist ties,” the metal and plastic coated kind are easier to manage whether untwisting or twisting together. This last lesson is the easiest.

Remember, life is a gift. Untie the ribbons.

It’s good to be back!