Mindful Monday: A Lesson on Squash

Mindful Monday: On Monday's I'm going to share what's been on my mind. I by no means have any of this figured out, I'm just thinking out loud here.

What I've learned lately:

1. Sometimes spaghetti squash rots from the inside out. 

2. If you decide to microwave a spaghetti squash whole, you won't discover it's rotten inside until after you've made plans utilizing said squash, waited for it to cook and cool and finally slice into it.

3. Or, you may discover this dilemma approximately 1-3 minutes sooner when the spaghetti squash explodes in your microwave.  That's if you're lucky. 

4. If you happen to press the minutes on your microwave and then walk away while cooking, you could very well come back to an even bigger mess.  While you were completing a task in another room your squash explosively decorated your microwave ceiling and walls. Before you returned it sat in the microwave a good 15 minutes and leaked a cloudy, warm puddle all over the turntable. Yum.  

5. Between exploding and rotting from the middle, only half a spaghetti squash remains.

6. After salvaging what you can, you are no longer in the mood for stringy yellow fibers that taste like pale squash.  

 7. On the plus side, the microwave is a little cleaner, and the strands are fun to twirl on your fork.  Well, what's left of them. 

8. If you're fed up with the mess and put what's left in the fridge for later it might be gone by the time you return and actually do want to eat some.

9. Spaghetti squash may not tint your skin quite as orange as other varieties because a) it's pale yellow or b) after rotting and exploding you don't actually have much to eat.

10. In place of the expected frustration, you find the situation quite entertaining and laugh to yourself.  When you realize you've been writing out a play by play dialog in your head the entire time, you're not sure whether to smile harder or freak out.  After a moment to ponder, you shrug your shoulders, laugh harder at the situation and continue the dialog in your head as if you're writing a blog post. 

11. If you're feeling extra mindful you can make an analogy between squash and people. Both can appear fine from the outside but still rot from the center.  Under enough heat and pressure, an explosion may occur, especially if issues are left unattended.  With a smile on your face and a different mindset, you learn from the mess and move on.  

Food for Thought: "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart." -Eleanor Roosevelt