Savoring the
Not-So-Perfect Life
by Michelle
Rayburn
(For
September 10 – National TV Dinner Day)
When
I was young, my mother cooked most meals from scratch, baked six loaves of bread
every week and canned enough vegetables to feed the neighborhood if we ever had
to retreat to a bomb shelter. But on occasion, we had TV dinners when she worked
the evening shift at the hospital and my dad had to feed us three kids.
September
10 is National TV Dinner Day, and it has me reminiscing about those foil-covered
aluminum trays with frozen mystery meat and gravy, blobs of mashed potatoes,
corn and chocolate pudding—because who doesn’t cook their pudding in the oven,
right?
In
those pre-microwave days, we peeled back the foil to reveal the ready-to-eat
meal when the oven timer buzzed. The actual contents were always somewhat of a
surprise compared with the images on the box. For one thing, the portions were
more appropriately toddler-sized, and looking back, this explains why my dad
chased his meal with a giant bowl of fudge ripple ice cream.
Nothing
looked as appetizing as the box, either. The gravy sort of oozed from the
mystery meat over to the corn, and pooled in the pudding.
Isn’t
life a little like that sometimes? Before it becomes our reality, the idea of growing
up, getting married, establishing a career or becoming parents looks
magazine-worthy in the images we build in our minds. And after all the
anticipation, we peel back the foil and suddenly it looks a lot messier than
expected.
As a
recovering perfectionist, I’ve learned some lessons to get me through my TV dinner
life:
1.
Savor every bite
of happiness.
There is goodness there when we look for it. Turns out, even mystery meat can
be delicious!
2.
Toss out
unrealistic expectations and embrace the imperfection of real life. Accepting what I
have instead of longing for a picture on a box has brought me such contentment.
3.
Enjoy the fun of
the experience.
For me, TV dinners weren’t really about the contents of the box. They were
about the fun of doing something different with my dad—maybe even actually eating
in front of the TV. Too often, I can miss life’s fun if I let complaining take
over.
What’s
in your TV dinner life? It’s a great day for a perspective change—and maybe a
trip to the frozen food aisle, just for fun.
About the Author:
Michelle
Rayburn is a writer and speaker who enjoys repurposing thrift sale finds into creative
decorations for home and garden. She also loves finding gems in the trashy
stuff of life. She is the author of The
Repurposed and Upcycled Life: When God Turns Trash to Treasure. www.michellerayburn.com
(For
September 10 – National TV Dinner Day)
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