Contemplating a red spatula.

Yesterday while on a routine shopping trip at Dollar Tree, I spotted a red silicone spatula with a wood handle for, naturally, a dollar. I picked it up, wondered how I’d lived all these years without one, and then I bought it. I was so proud of my new acquisition that I joked about it to the cashier, and then let my cat examine it when I got home.

And now the hard part. What will I do with it? Will it languish in a kitchen drawer for the next 20 years, suffering the same fate as my Braun hand mixer or that whisk thing I bought a decade ago? Or will I actually find the inspiration and motivation to bake a cake? No, that’s out because I don’t own any cake pans. Maybe all I’ll ever use my new spatula for is getting mashed potatoes out a bowl, or squishing flies.

But the deeper question is, how have I made it to middle age without ever owning such a device? Obviously I haven’t needed one, but why not? Where is the inner chef in me? Has life become so pre-packaged and convenient that we no longer need spatulas? Everything we could possibly need can now be bought fully prepared, wrapped up, and ready to go! But where’s the challenge and satisfaction in that?

So I sit here contemplating my new red spatula. Will I be inspired to actually do something with it, or will it become just another colorful object mixed among other colorful objects in a drawer? I really don’t know….but somehow I doubt I’ll be buying cake pans anytime soon.

An elderly Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life.

He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil — he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego.

The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee replied: “The one you feed”.

“There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he’s absolutely free to choose.”

William M. Bulger

American Educator, Senator

What is your purpose? What will be your legacy? That's one of the mysteries of life. We may live for decades never finding "success" and wondering what our purpose is. The older you get, the more it begins to look like maybe there is no purpose, and no success will come. But I'm often reminded of Grandma Moses, who began painting while in her seventies and went on to become one of the most prolific and famous artists of our time. Most people are planning to quit (retire) when they reach 70, but Grandma Moses had 30 years of her biggest successes ahead of her.

What about you? Are you planning to quit or are you just getting started?

Are you living a life of purpose or one of indifference?

To change your logo go to the 'Page Master' under the 'Design' menu