Finding Courage...

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear”

                                                                                ~Ambrose Redmoon

I have had a few turns this week to fight my fears and uncertainties both at work and home this past month.  It's that fear of letting go of those tiny hands that grasped your hands and tried to walk along side you...and you find out that somewhere along the way, that the little boy is now taller than you, wears a shoe size that is larger than yours and is ready to take a plane ride into the "big unknown" for an even bigger competition. While there is love and pride...it battles for a minute with intense panic. 

Two seconds before the start of an important presentation, it almost feels like the butterflies in my stomach would claw their way out...and then everything settles down...hard conversations, the domestic chores, the constant pain in my throat (like I am fighting off a chest infection) and the not-so-domestic chores...everything seems to need more than a little extra TLC this week. I am ready to just lay down and go to sleep...just one more hour but then plough through the day and the week...ironical that I feel down and out just before the most important coming out party for my team...

When things start to make me feel anxious and overwhelmed here is my little rule book :

1. Think about the situation in question.
2. Turn your attention inwards—focus on your breath, stop doing what you were doing, and just focus on breathing.
3. Imagine the situation playing out in your mind with a positive outcome
4. Now let it happen...let the situation play out!

This week was an interesting one in terms of food - I made the boy Matar Paneer  (yup! the matar paneer was made in my Instant Pot and served with hot Parathas. He looks up with sad eyes and says - Ma! why can't you give me something more yummy like Mac & Cheese (you can't win them all !!!). So last evening, I made an Instant Pot Mac & Cheese for K2(he was licking his plate clean!)

Instant Pot Mac & Cheese 

Ingredients

• Generic Mac & Cheese Box - I used  Good Citizen
• 1. 5 tablespoon of Unsalted Butter
• 1/3 Cup of Milk
• 1/2 cup of grated sharp cheddar 
•  water (as per directions in the box, it was 4 cups on mine)

How To?

1. Turn the Instant Pot on
2. Pour the mac and cheese pasta and water into the pot. 
3. High Pressure 3 minutes with quick release
4. Drain out the excess water
5. Put the IP on Saute...add in the butter and the milk and the sauce/cheese mix and whisk briskly till the sauce/cheese mix is incorporated
6. Now add the extra cheese and let it melt
7. Serve hot to a hungry kid.

I want to leave you with a thought for this week "sometimes courage does not roar, sometimes courage is that quiet voice inside you which after a long hard particularly exhausting day, tells you quietly - never mind, let's try again tomorrow"