Whether processing food, words or ideas, patience and quiet determination can yield mind-blowing results.

Gazing at the pile of contraptions and ingredients strewn before us can be exciting and enthralling when we are about to embark on a culinary voyage in hopes of creating something delicious and beautiful.  We are rarely fazed or frightened by the kitchen gadgets or food stuffs in their raw, uncombined state.  This is in great part because we are fairly confident of the outcome.  If we fail to whip up a culinary masterpiece, we still expect to make something our loved ones will appreciate and relish.  An extra bonus is that ven the dreaded task of clean-up can be delightful when there are beaters to lick -- when they're turned off, of course.

Many experiences in life involve working through a process.  When working through a math problem we expect to approach it step by step in order to get the desired result, the right answer.  Okay, so maybe math isn't the pleasantest example.  How about gardening?  Even if we are jumping out of our skin to harvest our little crop of tomatoes planted in our side yard, we still understand that they must go through a process from planting, feeding, growing to harvesting.  Not only do we not mind the various stages of their growth; rather, we enjoy witnessing them.

Sadly, most of us tend to be far less patient with ourselves and our growth processes.  Authors are often frustrated and unduly harsh on themselves while in the writing stage of creation.  Those of us working towards self-improvement -- either physically or spiritually -- can be downright abusive to ourselves when we don't see instant results, even though we are fully aware that such results are not realistic.

At this time of year, when so many are stressed and harried, why not take a moment, or many moments,  to truly appreciate not only what you've done, but how you did it.

Don't settle for half-baked.  Enjoy the process.
This exquisite creation is an actual edible cake