Of Pizza and Possibility
Rolling with disappointment to embrace the moment.
Photo by Aurélien Lemasson-Théobald on Unsplash
Let’s have pizza!
My two oldest grandkids love pizza. In particular, they like a local place that lets you 'design' your pizza yourself.
You pick the ingredients and how much of everything goes on it.
This is one of their favorite grandma and grandpa things to do.
That doesn’t look good.
It had been a while, so we loaded up the car last night and went for a design-your-own pizza dinner.
My grandson E said, ‘I know exactly what I want on mine. Ooooh, I can almost taste it!”
As we arrived, something wasn’t right. The entire store was dark.
A nearly invisibly small handwritten sign said they were closed due to a staffing shortage.
Part of the Adventure
Since my kids were little, we’ve approached events as adventures. Whether it’s vacations, trips, or dinner out, each occasion is viewed as an adventure.
Whatever happens along the way is accepted as part of the adventure.
We’ve shared this same approach with the grandkids. Seconds after the realization there would be no pizza, they began acknowledging in their own way that this was part of the adventure.
We collectively discussed what to do instead and selected another restaurant nearby.
“They have an indoor playground,” said E.
“And waffle fries,” added my granddaughter, C.
And it was settled. I think the waffle fries clinched it for all of us.
Acceptance
In my experience, one of the most significant sources of unhappiness is our inability to accept things as they are.
It’s okay to be disappointed. We certainly wanted pizza. Instead of staying with the disappointment, we embraced the possibilities of something else. We accepted the change as part of the adventure.
The kids loved the playground and the waffle fries. My wife enjoyed one of the best sandwiches she’d had in a long time, and we all enjoyed one another’s company without stress or frustration.
Did I mention the waffle fries?
Great idea with taking challenges in life as an adventure. Good for all of us to do. I like waffle fries too and good sandwiches as it is a lesson to be flexible in life for the kids and deal with Plan B, C and D sometimes ;)
Great. Now I'm hungry, David E. Marlow! At 9am!
Breaking intermittent fast may come early today.
😅
Almost from the time my kids were babies, we had a family tradition of Friday Pizza and Movie Night.
We would go to the neighborhood shop where the manager became Grant's buddy. He would let them design their own pizzas, and work with some of the spare dough while they waited, fixated on the process until it was done.
Did this have some effect on my son growing up to manage a pizza shop?
Maybe.
And to your point of possibilities - it also allowed him to see when even some notions run their course. He has now left that shop and is working intentionally at another restaurant with a better culture.
Because culture ate pizza for breakfast.
Which I am now about to also go do.
🙏