One of the moms at school was telling me about her daughter, then six, who was at a girl scout retreat. An older girl was gagging at one of the meals because she hated the food. My friend’s daughter said to her,

They’re not asking you to like it. You just have to eat it.

I love the sentiment of that because making it in life requires such a stalwart attitude. You don’t have to like something to do it and to do it well.

woman cookingTake me and cooking, for example, I simply don’t enjoy the mess in the preparation and clean-up. If I can get a dish prepared for me that tastes the way I like, I’d rather buy it than make it myself. That doesn’t mean I don’t know how to cook that dish, or that I don’t cook for my family, or even that I don’t know how to cook at all. It just means that cooking is not high on my list of priorities. I have better things to do with my time (like blogging for example ;) ). I still cook at least five or six days out of the week but I do not like it. I don’t like cooking but I have to do it and I do it well.

Other things I don’t like but do just fine:

  • Shower (heh)
  • Keep track of money
  • Discipline children
  • Socialize
  • Take tests

Similarly, just because I can do something well doesn’t mean I like it. Such is the imbalance and unfairness and general suckitude of life.