Today's post is a day early but it's about Valentines Day. My intention was a great post of Chocolate dipped Strawberries in dark chocolate and white chocolate drizzle. There was to even be a citrus sugar sprinkle and lovely photos to accompany them. The idea was a quick and easy way to make a Valentine's treat for a loved one.
In reality what happened was complete failure. Not once but twice, including multiple trips to the store to replenish ruined ingredients. In the end it just didn't work out, and was a complete mess, and not very pretty.
This made me think a little about Love, Life, and about Valentine's Day. Sometimes we try and go out of our way to be perfect. In our minds the perfect dessert, or perfect gift will make the day more special somehow. Sometimes we even focus so much time on being perfect, or creating the perfect day, that we lose the moment, and forget to just enjoy ourselves and each other. Relationships can be a lot like making chocolate covered strawberries. Sometimes things don't go perfectly, we get frustrated and want to throw in the towel. From the outside maybe things don't match the ideal image that we expected. The truth is we can sometimes set ourselves up for our own failure and maybe just maybe nobody else was expecting as much as we did of ourselves.
My Strawberries may look like a complete mess, and nothing at all like the perfectly dipped ones in a magazine image. Truth is that they still taste as sweet and decadent. Like Love, it may not be exactly as I expected but it's pretty damn good and I wouldn't trade them for one of those perfect Strawberries.
Remember to take the time this weekend and love your mate, without expectations, and without the pressure of being perfect. Maybe that favorite restaurant has no reservations, so instead you get a pizza and have a cozy evening at home. Enjoy the mess, get dirty, and maybe...just maybe...fall a little deeper.
To Craigg my own Valentine, I love you. I'm glad you're my mess of a chocolate dipped Strawberry!
Funny thing is... sometimes it's only when we learn to let go of those high expectations, and take it slow, that we finally get it right.
