Introduction: This is a revised post I published back in 2008. Today I learned that in honor of tomorrow’s date of 3/14, the American Pie Council is designating the day “Pi Day” to celebrate both pie and pi. Later on today I will share more with you about this tasty topic!
What Kind Of Pie Are You?
In the book, Life Lessons, How our Mortality can Teach us about Life and Living, by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler, Mr. Kessler tells us about a man who was having great difficulty letting go of his elderly, seriously ailing grandmother. His wise grandmother explained that she had lived a very full and complete life. She explained that “We are like a pie, giving a piece of ourselves to our parents, our children, our jobs, our spouses”, but some people find when they reach the end of life, that they have not saved a piece for themselves, “…and don’t even know what kind of pie they were…”
The grandmother went on to explain that she knew what kind of pie she was and could part from this life with that knowledge. This helped the grandson accept her death and he told his grandmother that he wished to be like her and to know who he is by the time he dies. The grandmother’s final wisdom was that one doesn’t need to wait till death to find out what kind of pie one is.
At the start of the New Year, many of us were engaged in taking stock of ourselves and our achievements, and perhaps of our disappointments and losses during the previous year. This was a good time to see if we could reframe our perspective about what occurred during the past year and to see if we could zero in on the learning and new insights that resulted for us. Some of us set new goals (resolutions) and begin with lofty ideals and plans for the year, or even for the rest of our lives. Now that we are halfway through March of 2010, it might be helpful to review how we are doing with our goals and plans made in January. This gives us a chance to measure our progress thus far.
How can we continue to grow from our past learning? How can we commit to goals that we will be able to achieve and not give up on after a week or two, or a few months? What has worked for you in the past in helping you stick to your goals? Are there some things you need to remind yourself of that did not work, but that you often tend to repeat anyway? Did you do as much for others as you had committed to? What have you done for yourself so far this year to increase your self-knowledge?
It seems to me that self-knowledge, truth and honesty are the places to begin.
So, if you were a pie, what kind of pie would you be? Why? What are the characteristics of the pie that you are? How has your pie been sliced and served in the past? Do you want to apportion your pie (yourself) out in the same way in 2010? Think about how your pie looks now? Is this comfortable and satisfying to you? What should change? Does your job get a bigger piece of you, or a smaller one? What about a piece set aside to reward or nurture yourself? How much of the whole pie will that be? Will you experience it all right now, or save it for later?
Are you a pecan pie, heavy, rich, solid and sweet? Are you a chiffon pie? You can be anything you want. It’s a new year!