Last year on Thanksgiving day, I ordered an Instant Pot from Amazon—one, because everyone I knew had one and raved about it, and two, because of the great price for a Black Friday deal. I felt quite proud of myself for taking care of my Christmas present to myself with one click, all the while envisioning easy meals in my future! Way to go, Kerri!
When it arrived, I unboxed it, looked at the owner’s manual and all the buttons, got slightly freaked out, and put it away in my cabinet to deal with another day. It looked really complicated, not to mention really scary, and I didn’t have the brain power or time to deal with it just then.
I was too afraid to even try it for 6½ months!
I’m embarassed to say that this modern marvel sat in my cabinet for over half a year! Almost weekly, I saw new recipes that I could have been making all that time, but I let fear keep me from even trying it out!
Finally, I had had enough. Time to conquer your fear, Girl! I had a free Saturday night and all the ingredients I needed—I was going to make my first Instant Pot dinner. I pulled everything out on the counter and started reading the owner’s manual. You guys, it took me over an hour to read thru it! AN HOUR! I wanted to make sure I didn’t blow my face off or ruin the meal. Eventually, with fear and trepidation, I made the meal and, surprise! My chicken dinner actually turned out great and my face was still intact! The whole thing only took me 2 ½ hours to make—not quite the easy meal I was expecting, but I DID IT.
Still afraid 5 months later…
I have not touched my Instant Pot since that first meal. Thanksgiving 2019 has come and gone, and I began to reminisce about my “great” purchase from last year’s Black Friday. I was slightly embarrassed for letting this little machine scare me, and while with family over Thanksgiving, I heard even more people rave about using it 2-3 times per week. My “it scares me” excuse sounded really lame.
Determined, I decided I was going to start using my Instant Pot regularly when I got back home. So last night, I did it. Only, this time, without the instruction manual! I have no idea what happened to that booklet, but I had to wing it. I couldn’t remember how to use it, so I watched a 2 minute video on how to turn the thing on and cook. Those 2 minutes were so easy compared to the hour I had spent before pouring over the written instructions. My meal went from frozen to ready to eat in 45 minutes. AWESOME!
While eating my easy meal, I was struck with how this little scenario played out on the bigger scale of my life.
Playing it safe – following the rules
I have always been such a rule follower—always checking everyone’s rules to make sure I was doing it “right” in order to please everyone, staying in the lines and the limits, not rocking the boat so I would not only be “safe”, but “perfect”. Heaven forbid anyone say anything negative about me.
I stayed in a toxic relationship for 25 years too long trying to keep up with all the rules and not rock the boat for the fear of the wrath that came if I did. But trying to walk on eggshells and keep up with all that “stuff” was exhausting and overwhelming. Fear kept me paralyzed to do anything else, until one day I had enough. It was time to face the fear. I did and I survived!
It’s okay to not go by the rules and do things even if I’m scared
More about my story in other posts, but my Instant Pot experience reminded me of some things:
- I don’t need to know every last detail about every single thing before I can start something.
- I’m thankful that something inside me gets fed up with being afraid of small things and even big things that pushes me to change—even if it takes awhile.
- I can do scary things and survive.
- As long as I don’t violate my morals or go against my faith, it’s okay to live outside the lines, break some rules, and not be perfect.
- Life (and easy meals!) can actually be enjoyed while figuring it out my way in my time.
