On Thursday morning, Constantine and I started by him asking me what it was that I do that “gets me to the next gear”, as if in a car. I think that he asked because it seems that I don’t really “get excited” or even move fast while working with Athens’ Own. Anyway, I said I thought I “changed gears” when I do something like mowing. I didn’t really know why, but I thought maybe it was because I wanted to get it done faster and finish sooner. I wonder if that means that I don’t really want to finish my current activity with Athens’ Own or what. One other thing that I have thought of since that conversation was airsofting. Whenever I get in an airsoft war with my friends, I really get really involved and active in that activity. Now I need to “transfer” those actions (speed) and mindsets (wanting to be involved more) to working with Athens’ Own. One thing that I should transfer is the ability to take any situation and make the most of it. While mowing, I try to do the best job I can, even if the grass is too long or wetish. It gives me the opportunity to see what works best/worst in those situations. The same with airsoft. I can try out different strategies and work toward becoming proficient with the best one or two. Again, I need to get that into my Athens’ Own work.
Later that morning, once Alyse got there, we went into the the kitchen at ACEnet and saw some cinnamon bread that Crumbs had left out. We of course had to ask if they were freebies. They said they were because they had gotten slightly stale and hadn’t sold out front. That didn’t stop us. We took a loaf of that bread and got some butter. We put the butter directly into a skillet and placed the bread slices right in it and let it sizzle. After a flip or two, we had some awesome grilled cinnamon bread. After the Crumbs guys ate a loaf or so of that up, we made some more, only this time we tried it as french bread. Couple of eggs, cinnamon, some sugar and the cinnamon bread. With some cinnamon sugar and maple syrup, it was just as good.
I think that using that stale bread in those ways was the beginning of making the best of opportunities that we may not like at first. The bread was stale and by most standards, was not usable. But we found a way to make the best of it and turned it into a couple awesome things to share for breakfast. I now just need to find ways to do that in all the other things I do with Athens’ Own.