NormsMilfordBlog

From today’s Jacks Winning Words blog come this – “I’m telling you, that banana pudding, really—it’s life changing.”  (Malcolm Livingston II).  Jack went on to write – Malcolm is a chef who has recently been named to work at Noma in Denmark, said to be the best restaurant in the world.  How did this come to be?  His inspiration for cooking came from Aunt Alice who would make “goodies” for him and his young friends, and their favorite was banana pudding.  As you think back, who had a life-changing influence on your life? 

We’ve all heard, or seen on TV, stories about someone in the life of a famous person who changed the course of their life. Perhaps it was a relative or a favorite teacher who inspired them to go on to greatness in their life. Most can remember the person in their life who made their banana pudding, life- changing difference. I have heard many stories about teachers who early on in the lives of great scientists turned them on to the wonders of math and science and got them started on a life of discovery and wonder.

Many of us have also read or seen the stories of stars of stage or screen who were encouraged at a young age to express themselves through their flights of pretend fantasies. And most successful singers can point back to someone who encouraged and supported them as they developed. Those early supporters were supplying the banana pudding in the lives of those famous people.

For most of us it make be hard to put your finger on a specific person in your life who was there with the banana pudding that you needed to encourage you to succeed. Many might point back to a mom or dad who was there to take them to dance lessons or to ball games. Many athletes can relate stories of the long hours and travel to and from practices at which mom or dad (or both) were always there. Their sacrifices were the main ingredients in the banana pudding that led to an Olympic success or to a professional career.

For those not in the limelight of athletic or professional success, it is perhaps the wholesome banana pudding of your upbringing that has made you the good person that you are today; able to tell right from wrong and make the correct choices in life. The fact that you can find happiness without having to be in that limelight points to a steady diet of guidance and teaching as you were growing, to help you develop character and an principles to live by – the banana pudding made up on faith, hope and love that your parents and maybe your teachers shared with you. For many there was also a pastor, a minister, a priest, a rabbi or other religious figure (maybe a Sunday School teacher) who made a major impression on them and changed the course of their life.

So, thinking back on your life; was there someone or something that you can see now was your banana pudding? What or who has inspired you to take the path in life that you are on? Share your banana pudding person or event here.