A Recipe for Personal Growth

As you prepare to make this recipe, make sure you really want it. Some of the ingredients are costly and rare. Making this recipe requires significant investment. It takes time, practice, and careful attention.

Heads up: it has a kick! You may also shed tears while chopping. This is normal, and it will be worth it. Despite the challenges intrinsic to this dish, anyone can make it with the right mindset!

Recipe for Personal Growth

INGREDIENTS

2 cups organic reality*

*You can get this from a lot of places, but quality varies significantly. When in doubt, check the Bible first to see if it has the kind you need! Stick to trusted sources! There

are several types that can work: biblical, historical, and evidence-based. A blend can be

delicious! Different occasions can also call for different types, so be thoughtful and

have fun experimenting!

1 cup Christlike™ (be sure you get the right brand!) self-care

1 cup authentic humility

1 cup perseverance

1 tablespoon feedback (farm-raised or wild-caught, or try a combo!)

A dash of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Chop the humility into bite-sized pieces

2. In a large, desire-shaped bowl (obligation-shaped will not work), gently fold together all ingredients. Do not overmix. You should still be able to distinguish each one. 

3. Add more of any ingredient as needed to taste. This is not about perfection; enjoy the journey! 

4. Grab your rolling pin and roll the mixture out thinly. Remove any ingredients that are not supposed to be there. Don’t be alarmed; it is normal to find some. Organic reality often contains chunks of artificial reality that have been mixed in during childhood, from trauma, etc. Also try to remove any shame, unforgiveness, and anger. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t get every last bit; just try to get the main chunks and the rest tends to work itself out.

5. Once you have achieved a good mix, cover it and let it sit. As it does, the flavors will intermingle and mature. Enjoy your rest during this step!

6. Bake as long as needed:

Fan/convection (therapy) – 325°  Typically faster, lower temperature

OR

No fan/regular (community) – 350°  Typically slower, higher temperature. Watch 

out for hot or cold spots in the oven!

Feel free to experiment with both cooking methods! Especially as you get to know

yourself, your ingredients, and your oven, both methods can be delightful!

8. Alternate between baking, resting, and refining your mix, adding ingredients as needed to further develop your flavors. Continue until growth has stabilized and ingredients have fully incorporated.

9. While plating, use apology and/or amends as an optional garnish depending on the situation. While apology can be used as an appetizer or enjoyed throughout the process, many people prefer it served with growth.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

If you find your dish is not working, it’s not because you can’t grow. There can be many reasons the dish isn’t turning out, but here are some of the most common:

• Did you leave out an ingredient? We’ve all been there! Or used a teaspoon instead of a cup? Been there too! Be sure you haven’t left anything out and that you have enough of each!

• Are you using counterfeit ingredients? Consider your source; not everything marked “reality” is authentic! The other ingredient most likely to be counterfeit is humility; be sure it is not actually shame or self-deprecation. Shame and self-deprecation will prevent rising and will spoil the whole recipe.

• Check the color of your reality. A complete, balanced reality will include positive and negative truths. The combination of black and white should result in a nice gray color. If your reality is too skewed to one extreme or the other, your dish will not turn out. When people end up with an unbalanced reality, it's usually too black; they've only selected the negative truths. But occassionally people only grab the white kind. The white kind will have a sweet taste by itself but will often ruin the dish unless it is balanced. Even though it includes some beauty and some beast, the gray stuff is delicious!

• Spoiled feedback is also sometimes a problem. Check to ensure the motive is good. Fresh feedback has a healthy green appearance; you can see that it grew on the Vine. Spoiled feedback is crusty and black. You can tell from its withered tone that it has turned bitter and the feedback grew while disconnected from the Vine.

• Did you forget to bake it? While there can be some benefits to enjoying this dish raw, there are some flavors that can only be developed with heat, and that means other people. Trying to grow in isolation limits your growth.

• When in doubt, try adding in positivity, playfulness, creativity, hope, and/or gratitude! It’s hard to overdo it with any of these. You might find these flavors develop naturally as you work on your mix, but you can always put in extra at any point!

Once you finish making this dish, you’ve only just begun! Next time try it with chocolate chips, or coconut flakes, or pesto and sundried tomato — the possibilities are limitless! You now know the process of personal growth, which means you can make it your own and apply it to all sorts of contexts! To become an expert, practice remembering what you learned, and practice making this dish often! If you really want to make it your own, try journaling about your experiments, noting what works best and how you might elevate further! If there is a specific version of personal growth you’re struggling to achieve, you have two great options: 1) Someone familiar with that specific recipe, and 2) A professional chef/therapist. For especially tricky versions, it usually helps to find one that specializes in the version you’re after! Bon appetit!