Scratching around for what to fix for dinner, I pulled shrimp out of the freezer and asked my daughter to marinade them in something. As she poured Ponzu over the shrimp, she asked “Is this a ‘wing-it’ marinade”? Since she tends to cling to rules (unlike her mother-maybe it skips a generation), cooking without a recipe was noteworthy and welcome. Much to my delight, she’s feeling freer in the kitchen by “winging-it”. After all, nothing goes according to recipe anyway.

Making do with what we have and making it delicious is a great life metaphor. After all, is there another way to meet life? Expectations produce disappointment, ‘cause it never turns out the way we rehearse it. I bought that special cheese for a meal I’d planned. Ooops, someone ate it. Time to fix that soufflé and the cheese is gone. If I stop and go to the grocery store, my energy and timing will be off for dinner and the rest of the evening. Solution: “wing-it”; find something else to put in the soufflé. Chocolate sounds good.

Life happens, plans are made and often go awry. Not to worry. Wing-it. Trust yourself to fly.