What's in a Virtuous Cake?

Our everyday happenings have the power to move us and create purpose and meaning. The research on happiness shows us that creating meaning around our lives can improve and enhance our wellbeing.

So... A cake you ask?

A Virtuous Cake!

A Virtuous Carrot Cake includes way more than just the ingredients, that’s for sure.

A few months ago a friend sent me a divine recipe for a Virtuous Carrot Cake.  I had a little giggle as she knows very well how much I love virtues.  And if there was a way to become virtuous just by enjoying a little bit of this cake… well we would surely enjoy it, wouldn’t we?

When I received this recipe, I was so busy being busy that I never got around to making it. It was put squarely in the ‘Someday’ pile, and it didn’t take too long for me to realise that the pile was quickly becoming the ‘Someday Never’ pile.

I was involved in my work commitments to a point where I felt overwhelmed and exhausted from the workload of the project I was working on.  Being a working Mum meant waking up super early before the house was up and staying up super late nights after everyone was in bed.  It wasn’t working for me as I’m more of a person who thrives on an early bedtime ‘in by 10 pm’ and is early to rise.

It felt like I was on the rat wheel until that one day when I woke up and things were different. I didn’t just rise to get out of bed, I really and truly WOKE up.  I woke up, and I realised I had the power to choose to say NO.  It had been a full on twelve months of dealing with that stifling pressure, and I was not going to give in to one more day of it.  So I chose to let go of a few things, things that would make my life simpler, more creative and more enjoyable.  And the rest is pure harmony at its best.

That day of realisation was my ‘Someday, and life feels so much more balanced. And it’s all because I realise that I AM able to say NO to things – things that needed to go gently out of my life anyway. YAH for the gentle no and a CELEBRATORY YAH for the natural YES that flowed from those gentle ‘NO’s’.

Today was the SOMEDAY I got to make THAT cake.

I took myself back to the first day I received the recipe, and I was so happy I finally had the time and more importantly the energy to make it. I gathered the ingredients with a smile on my face, plus I had already chosen who I was gifting it to.

I think it is safe to say we have all too often felt the push and pull of our personal boundaries, of the need for self-care and self-love, and the desire for living life in a more calm and balanced way.  And while we can realize this situation is going on around us, it is another thing to be truly aware of it, inside of us.  I now have a new appreciation for all that I do in all areas of my life.  I am loving home so much more, I am loving work so much more, I am loving my family so much more, and I am loving myself so much more.

Here are a few juicy questions to help you with knowing your NO’S and knowing your YES’S and being true to who you are by getting in touch with both.

• • Is this YES going to prevent you from doing the things you love?
• • When you say NO to things you want to say YES to, how do you feel?
• • What is one thing you can say NO to that will free you from feeling overwhelmed, overly busy and hopelessly guilty?
• • What is one thing you can say YES to that will give you all that you want in your family life?
• • Who do you admire when it comes to living an authentic, calm life?
• • What would a gentle ‘no thanks’ look like for you?
• • When was the last time you chose to not do something that wasn’t serving you?
• • What stresses you?
• • What blesses you?
• • When was the last time you had to get yourself out of something you said YES to and wished you’d said NO?

So what’s in my Carrot Cake?

Freedom!

Time to spend time in the kitchen doing what I love.  I LOOOOVE cooking and baking.  I love feeding people beautiful, loving, and nourishing food. I experienced creativity and pure delight while baking this cake and giving it as a gift.  When I passed it over, it was like saying ‘I love you.’  This freedom allowed space and ease back into my parenting helping me to feel the joy of it, rather than feeling like it was more hard work to be done.

Having the space to do the things that energise me, and having more time doing what I love with the people I love means the whole world to me.  It means I can enjoy my family a whole lot more, relax into the things that I love and not just tick them off the to do list.

Enjoy your gentle NO’s and  YES’S.  Enjoy getting to know them extra well to restore, preserve, and protect your energy, and to set your very own boundaries.

Yours in Harmony

Kerry

PS:  Here is the recipe for the cake that my gorgeous friend sent me.  It surely is a YES!!