Adding Flavor to Your Life (Plus a Visa Gift Card Giveaway)

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Coffee-mate.

This contest is now closed. Thank you for your comments.

Congratulations to Mari, winner of the $100 Visa gift card! Thanks to Coffee-mate and BlogHer for sponsoring this giveaway. I hope all of you continue to add flavor to your lives in as many varied ways as you wrote in the comments.

At least one time per day, I am beckoned by one of my two boys to admire their growing bicep muscles, or their "pythons" as they like to call them. This morning, my husband and I described to them how the process of building muscles works. When you exercise, tiny tears occur in your muscles. As these tears repair themselves, your muscles become larger and stronger. As my boys ran off to start their daily regiment of shooting hoops and swinging like monkeys on our outdoor playset, I began to think about the process that our bodies go through each time we step out the door to exercise, and how it relates to life and experience in a more general sense. We are faced with hundreds of choices each day, some more mundane than others. These choices can range from, "Should I make a sandwich or a salad for lunch?" to "Should I move my family to a new city to take that job offer?"

Taking risks can be terrifying, but when the risks pan out, the rewards can be plentiful. Perhaps we can liken our minds and hearts to our muscles - when we take risks, we break ourselves down with anxiety, but the changes ultimately make us stronger. There have been many instances in my life where I have chosen to walk close to the proverbial cliff edge and, most of the time, have been reinforced for taking the gamble. While the decision to walk away from the safe side is not always easy, this is one way in which I add flavor to my life. My attitude has always been that if I think things through logically, have confidence in my common sense, and lay a little faith in the great unknown, things tend to turn out okay.

Well, maybe my common sense wasn't on full power as I stood 350 feet above the Zambezi River that separates Zimbabwe and Zambia, on the side of a bridge, with nothing but a large elastic band attached to my ankles. However, as my companions called "3...2...1...Bungee!" and I hurled myself out into nothingness, I knew this was a sensation that would be locked in my mind forever.


At the age of 21, when I headed off on a solo backpacking adventure through Europe, with all of the belongings I would need for the next 6 months strapped to my back, I felt deeply that I was about to embark on a trip that would shape my life. If I could make my way through nine countries by train and on foot, find the youth hostels hidden amongst the curving streets and directed by signs written in unfamiliar languages, and manage to keep myself safe and fed, then I could handle most situations that I would encounter later in life.


As I moved into my thirties, got married, and brought kids into this world, my risks changed in nature. My penchant for cooking led to experimentation with unfamiliar ingredients and techniques, adding flavor to my life in a literal way. These experimentations eventually led to a cooking blog, which became an important part of my life. When my husband, a talented athlete, took up marathon running, I decided it was time to put aside the trepidation I always felt when faced with a run longer than a couple of blocks. This change of heart led to the completion of several half-marathons (at a snail's pace, mind you) and a strong feeling of self-accomplishment.

Of course, there have been many instances when the risks did not pay off and even led to great disappointment or heartbreak. After wallowing in the wake of failure for awhile, I would slowly pick myself up, dust myself off, and head off down a different road. While the results were not what I hoped for, I could always say that I learned something from the experience.

As our children grown older, my husband and I hope to instill a sense of self-confidence and adventure them. We try to teach them that unexpected blessings can come from stepping outside of their comfort zones. The benefits may not always be obvious or earth-shattering, but the process of taking risks can be incredibly gratifying and always provide valuable learning experiences. In the meantime, we will continue to ooo and ahh over their "pythons" and hope that life will kindly provide them with opportunities to take risks and learn from their successes and failures.

For a chance to win a Visa gift card in the amount of $100, please answer the following question in the comment section:

"How do you add flavor to your life?"

Please, no duplicate comments.
You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
This giveaway is open to US Residents aged 18 and older
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail, so please be sure that you leave an email address.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Head to the BlogHer round-up page for a chance to win $500, plus 9 other chances to win $100.

Please see the official rules for this giveaway here: Official rules


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