A Recipe for Perseverance

 Dillard, exasperated at the notification of another job application declined, slammed his mouse down on his cluttered desk where various forms of his resume and cover letters lay stacked. He went to a four-year college hoping to beat the odds with his degree, only to find himself tormented by an endless job search where he was overqualified for most positions in his field of study. Dillard’s eyes were glazed over from staring at his computer screen, and his heart was heavy like a rock, as he noticed colleagues and friends were thriving in their new careers.

It had already been six months since his graduation and he didn’t so much as get even one interview yet. Though his parents were willing to let him stay at home free of rent until he got a job, Dillard hung his head in bitter shame of being dependent upon his parents for the time; he wanted to contribute somehow. For now, it meant he helped with cleaning and cooking.

Dillard began to wonder whether this was a wakeup call. He thought that maybe it was time to try to get any job at this point. He was tired of the polite rejection “thanks but no thanks” emails in return. Even his cold calls were not getting him anywhere. It seemed hopeless.

Dillard’s stomach grumbled at him, an obvious signal that he had forgotten to eat in a while since he was consumed with searching job boards online. He got up from his desk, feeling weak in the knees, and slowly walked to the kitchen to find something to satisfy his hunger. Dillard thought he could use a little refresher to change his perspective, too.

Just when Dillard was getting ready to grab something to eat from the fridge, a paper stuck on the door caught his eye, held in place with an aged magnet shaped like a dolphin. A goofy smiley face sticker, like the ones from his childhood years, was placed on the note. He chuckled to himself softly as he reminisced about his youthful days, no worries, just fun.

Then, as Dillard began to read the paper more closely, he realized it was some kind of note from his mom. The note read:

RECIPE FOR PERSEVERANCE

Ingredients:

- one cup of patience

- two tablespoons of effort

- one teaspoon of humility

- a pinch of laughter

- a sprinkle of hope

Dillard smiled to himself. He appreciated the way his mom always tried to encourage him with little notes, and taking something simple then turning it into a life lesson. He kept reading the recipe, obviously lovingly written with care.

Preheat oven to three-hundred fifty degrees.

Take a small bowl and mix patience and effort together well, until smooth, stirring out clumps of doubt and despair. Keep stirring; even when it feels like the clumps will never disappear, they eventually will.

Next, add in the humility to accept challenges you don’t expect, and do the things you feel too proud to do. Remember, pride comes before the fall.

Pour your mix into a lightly greased muffin pan. Put your muffin pan in the oven and bake for twelve minutes, periodically checking. 

Use a toothpick to see if the mix is baked thoroughly. If it comes out clean, then you know it is ready; kind of like when we go through difficulties. Life can be like an oven, just know that it is meant to make you come out stronger and better. If you’re still underbaked and bubbling underneath with fear and negativity, then you’re not ready yet.

Remove pan when the centers are thoroughly baked; tops should be brown.

When cooled off, dash your laughter and hope on the top because it’s time to share with others what you learned from your experience, and to look back and say “Hey, I did that - I made it out ok!”

Dillard set the note down with a contemplative smile upon his face. He meditated on the inspiring words of his mom, Stir until smooth… His mom was right; life does hand you lemons sometimes, and when it does - you make a lemon meringue pie, or lemon poppyseed muffins, or something like that. He had been fighting the clumps of doubt for a while, letting them weigh him down. He was looking at it all wrong; he needed to see this as a necessary process, to make him into someone stronger. He resolved that he would be more patient with not just the job hunt, but with himself; he would put in the effort to look for work -any work - and be humble about it, not overlooking any opportunities just because it wasn’t what he wanted. Then, one day he could share laughter and hope with anyone else going through a difficulty like he had been.

As the thought settled, the heaviness lifted, just a little. Tomorrow, he’d try again, this time knowing that every difficulty was shaping him into something better. With that, Dillard got his things together, prepared to go to town to hit all the local stores and shops to see if anyone was hiring. He was determined to put in the time and effort, and not give up no matter what. He would go in with a new mindset, not let rejections sting like before. He knew each step forward, no matter how small, was stirring out those clumps of doubt. Maybe, just maybe, he’d find exactly what he needed when he least expected it. Dillard was hopeful that his new outlook would help him be persistent, and persevere; he was optimistic, and finally felt like he had hope.

The next day, Dillard set out early in the morning after a nutritious breakfast, ready to go all around town to look for anywhere hiring. His heart raced at the thought of being rejected at first, but then he reminded himself, "Stir out the clumps of doubt," and calmed himself. 

By afternoon, he had gone around two shopping centers, filled out five applications, and was told that there might be an opening at a few of the shops around the holidays. He was grateful for what seemed like a successful day. Dillard was famished, and needed to get something for lunch, so he headed to a little cafe that was in the area. 

When Dillard was ordering his meal, he thought the place looked like they could use some help.

"Excuse me, do you know if you're hiring for any positions right now?"

"Oh man, yeah we could totally use some help in a few areas!" the young man seemed overwhelmed, "Are you interested? I can give you an application and our hiring manager is here right now - I bet he'd be happy to interview you on the spot, that is if you're ready."

Dillard was shocked, and he thought it was too easy, so he inquired a little more, "What positions are you needing help with?"

"Man, we could really use someone in the kitchen like a busboy but we also need servers and cashiers."

"Oh wow, ok; well I don't really have experience with any of those, but I am definitely needing something right now. Give me an application and I'll fill it out while I'm here."

"Cool dude, thanks and good luck!" the young man seemed very appreciative of Dillard's interest.

After Dillard ate his classic BLT sandwich and French fries, he cleaned off his table and got his favorite gel ink pen out, then began filling out the application. Gosh these things take forever, he thought, but it felt like he was really close to getting something - an opportunity - and he laughed as he caught himself muttering under his breath, "Mix in the patience and effort, add in the humility."

When he was finished filling out his application he went back up to the counter and the young man who gave him the application came back looking really happy.

"Hey dude, let me give this to my manager, Tom, and I'll see if he can interview - if you want!"

"Yes, that would be great, thanks, man."

In only a few moments, the manager, Tom had come up front. He had been doing the job of waiting on customers, helping in other areas.

"Hi, Dillard, nice to meet you," the middle-aged man greeted him in a friendly manner, shaking his hand firmly, "I'm Tom, the hiring manager. I hear you are looking for work, and as Jake here told you, we are really needing some help. Let me ask you something - would you be willing to start immediately and possibly even work some overtime if necessary?"

Dillard was taken off guard with Tom's straight-forward question, but it seemed obvious to him, "Oh yes, I understand sir, and yes I'd be willing to work immediately with some overtime." Dillard was thinking of adding in "Just don't work me to death," but held himself back from the joke.

After talking to Tom for about thirty minutes during his on-the-spot interview, Dillard was feeling pretty good about himself. Hey, he might even surprise himself and be really good at whatever job he gets.

"Alright, Dillard, well I think you'd be a good fit for us and seems like you're a hard worker, so I'll get back to you in a day or two. How does that sound?"

"That's great, I really appreciate you taking the time to see me today!"

"No problem, and it was good to meet you. Have a great rest of your day," Tom politely excused himself to get back to the business.

Dillard was really excited. At least Jake and Tom seemed cool to work with. Just the next day, Dillard got a call back from Tom offering him a position during the day that would be full-time, and he would start that weekend. Of course, Dillard accepted the position gladly.

Later, after cooking dinner for him and his mom, Dillard shared with her how his day went.

"So mom, I thought you'd like to know that I got your recipe and tried it out today," he began casually.

"Oh is that so?" his mom pretended to not know what he was talking about, but she had a little smirk on her face, "Which recipe now?"

Dillard laughed, "The one for perseverance and hope," he began, as he stirred his fork in his food, "I realized that I had to keep stirring those clumps of doubt out; I was spending too much time letting negative thoughts beat me down. Once I got past that, however, I was able to finally mix in the effort and patience."

His mom was beaming with pride, "Wow, that's impressive!"

"And that's not all, mom. I had to be humble enough to look past just work opportunities that I wanted; sometimes we have to accept things that aren't what we hoped for just to get to the things we would like in the future." Dillard felt particularly aware of how he was too proud for just any job previously. He realized that it was indeed his pride, his feeling superior to others, that was holding him back. Humility, it turned out, was that missing ingredient all along.

"That's very deep, Dillard, have you considered becoming a guru?" she joked.

"No, but I did want to take the time to share that so we could celebrate," he paused with a grin so big that you'd think he landed a job doing just what he always dreamed of, "let's laugh and share the hope I found through your interesting observations and way of teaching me a lesson. Let's celebrate because I was just offered a full-time job at the Cucumber Cafe downtown, and while it isn't the glorified career-starting job I imagined, I think I can learn a thing or two there."