When Things Go Wrong In The Kitchen

?I never thought I would say this…but I really enjoy cooking. I mean, there was a time when I’d go all day with nothing more than a bag of chips and a soda—if that. But with this newfound love for cooking, the kitchen has become my domain.

Cooking can be a lot of fun but as I said, I’m new to this. Yes, I’m new to this and a couple of weeks back, I paid for it—dearly I might add. Baked salmon was on the menu that night along with a salad and what has become one of my go to options—a sweet potato.

The timer went off, alerting me that the fish was done. I moved toward the oven…and this is where the problem began. I reached in with one hand---with my phone up to my ear---and my eyes on the television…and POW! That’s right, I burned the top of my hand. I had a pot holder covering the inside of my hand, but the top of my hand was exposed and bumped into the heating element in the top of the oven. 

My hand immediately began to blister and swell and there wasn’t a band-aid in the house. Now, here’s where it gets interesting. I woke up early the next morning to drive to Killeen, so I could take my father in for a surgical procedure. I hopped in the shower and, me being me, raked the soapy wash cloth over my burned hand, ripping the blistering skin off. What was once a puffy brown irritation…had now become a rather gruesome sight. 

I arrived in Killeen, picked my old man up and we headed to the hospital. The nurse and doctors came in and did their briefings and then they left us alone. I sat down by the bed and my father noticed my hand. We laughed and talked about me becoming a cook and needing to pay more attention while doing it. I told him I didn’t have any band-aid’s, so I was just going to “borrow” a few from the hospital. He tilted his head ever so slightly and said, “I tell you what you do Lynn…let it breathe” …

Confused I looked back at him and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Don’t go putting nothing over top of it—just leave it exposed to the air…let it breathe: it’ll heal faster that way”.

He was right. Although I finally bought some band-aids and wraps to cover it, because the thought of having an injury like that exposed worried me, each time I tried to use them…something felt off. So, I stopped trying and just let it breathe…and it healed.

***

This week, instead of covering up the hurt, the pain, the gruesome injury that life has thrown your way…let it breathe. Letting it breathe doesn’t mean you have to tell everyone, you might not want to tell anyone. Letting it breathe might mean unwrapping the hurt, the pain, the injury and facing it by yourself. Expose it to the fresh air that comes from knowing that you matter, you have feelings…but those things are just parts of the journey.

The quicker you do, the sooner you’ll be whole again. It’ll leave a scar, but that scar will be a reminder of how far you’ve come, acknowledgement of a battle won. Starting today, professional, personal, wherever the hurt, the pain, the injury can be found, let it breathe…

It’ll heal faster that way…