MULTITASKING MYTHS, KEFIR CONCOCTIONS, AND LIVING MINDFULLY LIES!

I am going to share the honest Truth right up front.

Success in multitasking is a lie from the pits of hell!

        This needs a lot of backstory so I can get to today’s revelation.

Back in the day, women were told to truly succeed in life, we had to be masters of multitasking. We were told to juggle every element in our entire universe. The truth is I didn’t do it well then, and I sure as heck can’t do it now!

For example, the other day I was talking to Tep (Stephanie, my oldest). She said, “Mom, are you stroking out or something? You are making no sense.” She didn’t know I was trying to think, and talk, and walk, and chew something, all the while heading to the garbage can to throw something away. It was more than my brain could handle. Which brings me to today with a bit more backstory.

I am a teetotaler. Always have been. Well, these days, I’m following the trend of trying to get healthy by getting off Diet Coke. I am going granola by brewing my own drinks called kefir, a wholesome probiotic drink. Or so they say. My kids think it tastes like champagne, but since I only tasted that once at a wedding back in 1969, I couldn’t tell you. It is pleasantly sour, though. They say at my age, even if it is a wee bit alcoholic, I need all the buzz I can get. Nice kids, huh? Anyway…

I was planning to make my day very successful by preparing one thing while I prepared myself to face the day. I put on a pan of sugar water, which is the basic ingredient for the kefir grains to use to ferment. It needs to cool before it is added to the kefir grains, so I was making it ahead of time. So far, so good.

We planned to go near Atlanta for our favorite Mexican food for lunch after Ronald’s cancer doctor visit. I needed to do my hair and makeup first, so I left the water to heat in the kitchen. I had rolled my hair and kept hearing a strange sound. It sounded like something splashing. I thought maybe someone was in the kitchen washing something. I wondered what it was, but I kept working on my eye makeup. Finally my curiosity got the best of me, and I headed to the kitchen. Once in the hallway, I was greeted by smoke pouring from the kitchen area. I realized then I had forgotten the sugar water. It had boiled over and was burning. Ronald came from the porch, opened the windows, and put fans in the windows to pull the smoke from the house. Argh! I didn’t bother explaining my multitasking. He knows me too well after a hundred years of marriage. We learned long ago to not have the smoke detector in the kitchen.

We had to leave for our trip to be on time for Ronald’s appointment, and the stove was too hot to put water on to wash away the burnt sugar crust. I’m letting a wet towel soften the mess before I attempt a cleanup. I hope I didn’t ruin another glass stovetop. I dropped an exhaust fan on the last one.

Anyway … Yep, back in the day it was, “Go for the gold! Multitask!” These days, I get old peoples’ magazines with sage advice for those who have reached the golden years. All the rage now is, “Live Mindfully.” I think the translation for that succinct comment really means, “Do one thing at a time, you old coot!”

Blessings

               KB

Read ‘Mindfulness’ or the mind of Christ by Joseph Boot on the Ravi Zacharias site.