Taking The Opportunity To Make Your Soup
During my senior year, after I realized my college loans were running out, I had to start planning on how I was going to survive and pay bills. I was mostly responsible and organized, but Junior year I did slack off, drink diet coke, and watch animated cartoons like Futurama. I just needed a break. In other words I just existed and wasted precious time just waiting for an opportunity. Given my financial situation I landed a job in the college cafeteria Sodexo as a dishwasher. I was shortly promoted to the assistant of get the cook whatever they need.
I remember one day Maria-the lady who trained me to cook told me to fix a specific type of soup. We had a recipe book on the shelf that the cooks had to go by, line by line. As months passed by, I was tired of the dishes I always fixed and heard that the students were not fond of it either. After all, I was on the student government and heard the student concerns on a weekly basis.
One day when Maria was not looking, I had an idea and changed the base of the soup by placing a few choice ingredients in the soup knowing it would taste better. Maria found out and gave me a look of frustration because I veered away from the recipe she was told to follow. Later that day we got surveys and feedback from the students that they wanted the dish I cooked again. Over 350 people loved it. The GM Lisa told me to do what I did again and she had the recipe placed on the menu. She then promoted me to the international cook station where I was able to prepare my dishes without supervision and cook in front of the students with style and fire, lots of fire.
Little did I realize and am still learning that I have to act when the opportunity comes my way. Does this mean that the rules should be bent from time to time, well that is up to you. Everyone has some opportunity to make a lasting mark. There comes a point where you just have to jump out of the norm, break your habits, and create something new.
Looking back, I was not satisfied being a dishwasher or even a runner. I wanted to cook. I had to act on what I wanted and by me acting, the opportunity mixed with action created my desire, just like the soup was created with the right ingredients.
Sometimes the timing might not seem convenient to move to the left or step to the right, but that excuse can stop you from placing your mark. Trust me, I have thought of every excuse possible not to do what God created me to do and I have missed out on a lot because I thought opportunities would just fall on me like skittles from a rainbow. Yeah…it does not work that way.
The end result is not always clear, but it is like a glass we see through dimly. I did not know how the soup would taste after I added the ingredients, but I knew it would somehow make it better. The end result is never known until it is proven and you are the person who is supposed to prove that taking the opportunity is worth the effort.
