A Soufflé Rises

        Tonight, I had the pleasure of spending time with my good friends, and after dinner, my girlfriend made us chocolate soufflés. They were delicious! We watched as she whipped the egg whites, and melted the chocolate, carefully folding to get the right airy lightness, and then onto the baking and whipping cream. This is her signature dessert, and she has made this for us before (happily!). When she sat down to eat, she asked if we thought there was anything hard about what she did. She gave the recipe to a friend who said she would never make anything that hard, and she couldn't understand it. The recipe is not difficult per se, but there are a number of steps, and there’s the whole whipping egg-whites-thing. My girlfriend thinks it’s simple. It got me thinking that sometimes, what one person thinks is easy and not a big deal, another may find quite challenging. Some people will make the effort and rise to the challenge, and others will not brave it.

It also got me thinking about the Paul Keating saying that a soufflé doesn’t rise twice. Usually, this saying means you only get one shot at whatever it is you are trying to accomplish, and once the fall happens, there is no getting back on top. Human beings are more resilient than that, and we have great capacity to rise, fall, and rise again. Although, when the challenges are health-related, it’s another level, and things can look quite different and even bleak.

                As a Caregiver, our loved ones have good days and bad. Their health falls, to rise again, and this cycle repeats. Caregivers also have their good days and bad, and spirits rise and fall depending on the challenges faced. It’s easy to understand the factors that contribute to the fall, deteriorating health and sickness, but not as easy to pinpoint what contributes to the rise. Why do some rise time and time again? Up for the challenge, and overcome, and others do not? Some people heal and get better, others do not.

                There’s no recipe that can spell out for us the ingredients and steps that contribute to someone overcoming challenges. Sometimes it takes someone willing to make that effort and have access to the right ingredients that can be pulled together and whipped up to achieve great heights. Sometimes it takes help from another, doctors, nurses, and loved ones, to overcome. In life, the fall happens, and there always is a downturn. How do you react? Can you salvage the day and make the best of what you’ve got? How do you react when it’s health-related? I hope you get all the love and support you need to help you rise above all your challenges.