Friday, July 6, 2018

Still Pouring: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 11 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

Secret Subject Swap, a multi-blogger writing challenge | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics


My subject is: Be honest: are you a cup half full or cup half empty kind of person?
It was submitted by: Carol of Never Ever Give Up Hope.

The real answer is "both". 

Or "it's complicated". 

Truth is we all like to think we're "cup half full" kind of people, because we connote it with being positive, upbeat, and by association happy. For some of us it's easier than for others, be it nature or nurture or some combination of both. 

The whole concept serves a purpose, though, and that's as something to strive towards. There's a "glass half full" light at the end of all tunnels, it's just up to us to get there.

It's easier to achieve "glass half full" in some circumstances and I like to think that I succeed in those scenarios. There are other times when it's a struggle and honestly sometimes I get there and other times I just don't. Truth is, anxiety empties that glass faster than I can fill it. And it does so on a regular basis. You'd think that the longer you strive for that positivity the easier it would be, but that's just not so. Life gets harder, the cumulative burden gets heavier and the impetus of being a good example for little ones now grown is no longer a motivating factor.

So for some, like me, glass half full moments are not natural, they're a triumph. And glass half empty moments are expected.

I'm reading through what I've written so far and laughing. "Debbie Downer" comes to mind. But it's not like that, really. If I were truly she, I would never write try new recipes expecting that I could succeed. And yet I do, and I do it all the time.


Cinnamon Nectarine Quick Bread, a moist quick cinnamon crusted bread filled with cinnamon flavor and chunks of nectarines. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #bread #fruit

Cinnamon Nectarine Quick Bread
Cinnamon Nectarine Quick Bread, a moist quick cinnamon crusted bread filled with cinnamon flavor and chunks of nectarines. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #bread #fruit


It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there, both through writing and through recipe developing. And each time I do, my belief that my glass can and will be half full is validated. 

There are a few big piece of the equation that have to be considered. One is just circumstances. Not one event, but those times when crap comes at you like it's blowing through a fan. You know what I mean, when it seems that bad luck doesn't come in threes but in three hundreds. There are times when you just get warn down. You may start out being positive but with each blow it gets harder. Does this make you a negative person? I don't think so. Not as long as you maintain perspective, know that although you're down, you'll be up again. In my book, hope is the great equalizer, it keeps that glass half full even when current circumstances make you feel that there are just a few drops at the bottom.

The other piece is your circle. We all have circles of friends, those we're closer to and those we keep a little further out. There are people, not necessarily bad people, but those who don't help us raise ourselves when we feel like we're sinking. When we're at our most vulnerable, brutally honest friends, though still legitimately friends, aren't what we need in that moment. Unlike most people's feelings, I don't think that circle of friends is solid, I think it's fluid. Who in our lives are most equipped to help us get to seeing the glass half full is situational. It's up to us to make those adjustments, find the right support for the current situation.  

The flip side of that is that we all need to strive to be that person for those in our lives, to try to put our own feelings aside to be what our people need when they need it. Because, honestly, nothing makes us feel better than knowing we've helped someone we love find that their own glass is really half full. 

So . . . am I a "glass half full" or "glass half empty" kind of person? I'd have to say hold on, I'm still pouring. 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:


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Cinnamon Nectarine Quick Bread
                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com


Printable Recipe


Ingredients:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP sugar
3 nectarines
6 TBSP butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3 TBSP orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peach yogurt
1/4 cinnamon baking chips, finely chopped
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:
*Grease loaf pan. Mix the 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 TBS sugar together and dust the greased pan with the cinnamon/sugar. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Discard the stone from the nectarines and chop the fruit.
*Cream the butter, brown sugar and remaining white sugar. Beat in the eggs, orange juice, vanilla, yogurt and cinnamon chips.
*Mix in the flour, salt and baking powder, just until incorporated. Mix in the chopped nectarines.
*Spread into the loaf pan and bake for approximately 55 to 65 minutes or until the center of the top springs back to the touch. Cool for 15 minutes in the loaf pan.
*Remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool completely before slicing.

18 comments:

  1. Hold on I'm still pouring. I like that answer. I see myself as a realistic person. I am neither half full or half empty. It is what it is. I don't do rose colored glasses or sugar coat it. If it's bad, it's bad. If it's good, it's good. If bad, I do my level best to make it better, if good I try not to rock the boat.
    Clear as mud right?
    Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I think that makes you glass half full. If it's bad and you try to make it better, than you're always striving towards the glass half full.

      Delete
  2. Good points, Karen!

    I just HAVE to repeat this meme I saw just the other day:

    Dear Optimist, Pessimist and Realist: while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of water, I drank it, sincerely, the Opportunist

    or

    My therapist set half a glass of water in front of me and asked if I was an optimist or a pessimist. I drank it and I told him "I'm a problem solver" ;-)))

    Happy Friday!

    PS: glasses are also REFILLABLE...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, like both of those. There's something to be said for not overthinking.

      Delete
  3. This is spot on and I'm right there with you---"still pouring."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You and I both know it's probably My Mai Tais we're pouring!

      Delete
  4. What a thought-provoking post! I love the sentiment: Hold on, I’m still pouring!
    I’m definitely a glass-half full person. Always looking for the bright side!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm the same way...still pouring. I guess it would depend on what day it is. Sometimes my cup is knocked over and spilled! Must be those little buggers!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I tend to be a bit of a pessimist - but I love how the opportunist solved the water glass problem. Now that's thinking "outside the box" - I mean, glass. And, now that it is cool enough to bake again (the heat wave broke, ahhhhhhh) I've pinned this quick bread. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad your heat wave broke. Ours is due to break next week.

      Delete
  7. Loved the line "when crap comes flying at you like it is coming out of a fan!" Been there too often but always tried to maintain the best attitude. Liked your perspective on the whole glass half full/empty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I knew that if anyone would get that fan thing it would be you.

      Delete
  8. I think people are too complex just to be one or the other. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I'd have to say that's generally the best approach.

      Delete
  9. These days I don't feel like a "glass half full" person, but I'm striving to have a "glass half full" attitude!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes that's the best we can do. I'm hoping you get there more often than not.

      Delete

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