To be responsible for my life means I have to let it be what it is. Not what someone told me it was. Not what others think that it is. Just what it is.
Instant Pots
I really like my Instant Pot. It has worked for us, and I have found some meals that make the thing totally worth having (like unbelievable carnitas).
Not everyone agrees with me, though.
Some of my friends bought an Instant Pot and have already sold it or given it away. They talked about it didn’t live up to the hype, that it wasn’t really “instant.” They didn’t like to feel like they were jumping on an IP “bandwagon.” So they got rid of it.
And whatever. Not every person wants or needs every new appliance.
But the difference in opinion about the Instant Pot illustrates a really valuable principle about owning our purpose.
What It’s Supposed To Be
Some of the biggest complaints about Instant Pots that I’ve heard have to do with how “they aren’t really instant.” I mean, you still have to cook the meat for 45-6o minutes, right? It’s faster, certainly, but it’s not magic.
To be fair, I’ve discovered that some things just aren’t worth cooking in the IP. Like rice. But mashed potatoes work brilliantly. I don’t make soups in it. But I can cook stew beef to melt-in-your-mouth perfection in just under 30 minutes. What I like about my Instant Pot is that it made meals that used to require 3-4 hours of attention and work, and turned them into roughly 30-minute, weeknight meals. A roast in 45 minutes. Carnitas in 60. Mashed potatoes, with virtually no mess, in 10 minutes. Baked potatoes (okay, steamed potatoes) in 20.
And that’s the thing. It’s not supposed to make all meals “instantly.” It uses pressure to cook long-term meals much, much faster. Without sacrificing flavor.
We do a great disservice to the poor little appliance when we critique and complain about it for being exactly what it is.
And the same is true for me. And for you.
Let Us Be What We Are
People were made for a reason. Not one of us is a mistake. YOU are not a mistake. God has a purpose and plan for your life. Mine, too. But we spend far too much of our lives trying to be everything we aren’t and ignoring exactly what we are.
We tease or dismiss people for not being who we expected. We criticize them for not being who we think they are supposed to be, and we refuse to celebrate who they are. Like our children. Our pastors. Our mothers-in-law. Even the guy at the McD’s drive-thru window when you’ve been waiting in line for 15 minutes.
We have to start letting people be who they are. Celebrating our differences. Allowing for what makes them tick. It’s the best part of all the various personality tests out there (think Myers-Briggs). Those people aren’t “wrong.” They just aren’t you. Let it be what it is.
And the same is true for ourselves.
We try so hard to be who our mothers think we should be. We work for years to appease that boss or please that other PTO mom. In many ways, we are still trying to impress the cool kids.
But what if we don’t anymore.
Your Purpose is Powerful
Taking responsibility for your life means accepting that who you are is who you’re meant to be. It means finding out who you are, what you were put on earth to do, and letting go of what anybody else thinks about those two things.
Your way doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s way. It’s okay to honor what we are at the same time we honor who our husbands are. Really, we don’t have to look alike, act alike, think alike.
Let it be what it is. Let yourself be who you are.
Maybe you don’t know who you are. Try taking some personality tests. More than one, for sure. Get some objective input on just who it is that actually lives inside your body. And then own that reality. Be you. And let all of them be whoever they are. No pressure.
I’m kind of like an Instant Pot: high-pressure, in a hurry, and dangerous if I blow my top. Maybe you’re a slow cooker. Or a stock pot. Even better, a specialty pan just perfect for making crepes.
I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter.
It’s high time we just be who we are. The world will be a better place for it. I promise.
