Lessons: Following the Recipe, or Not.

A family can teach you a lot about your self, your talents, your weaknesses, and they can reflect those deep spots within you that you choose not to share with anyone else. The family is a powerful unit, and for most of us it can dictate our moral compass and which direction our life will go.

I am happy to say that while my family has always encouraged me to do whatever I wanted, they never told me what to do. There was guidance, sure, and there were times where my mother told me "it" (whatever it may be) wasn't a great idea followed by my father nodding in agreement. But there was never the control that I see so much in families today. It is said that if you love someone you set them free. And the freedom I had growing up has given me the strength to trust myself, love myself, and follow my heart.

I've never been one to follow recipes (or the rules). And if I do, I use them as a guide. I always end up changing something. I think that says a lot about a person. It says they are willing and eager to pave their own way, that they are not afraid to go off course, try something new, make a mistake.

So even if you think your parents are clueless freaks, which I think we all are sometimes, trust that know matter how you were raised there is always something good to be found, that there is beauty in every mistake, and that there is nothing wrong with too much hot sauce in the soup!