The Cake of Life
A metaphor for a balanced life.
I love cake, there are so many things to appreciate about cake. Aside from the multitude of delicious flavour combinations, there are endless, creative ways to decorate. The only limit is imagination, cake has an expression, a freedom. It can tell a story, it can be part of someone’s story, a celebration, an occasion, or served with tea and long conversation.
The humble cake, in fact, is so much more than meets the eye.
So, what if we viewed our life as a cake (just go with me here …)
What if the overall impact the cake makes is how we show up in the world. Now, for me, every cake has equal value and deserves equal admiration. The flamboyant, the delicate, the expressive, the traditional, all perfect, all unique, just different.
And if we divided that cake into slices, what could these slices represent in our lives? Maybe they could be family, friendships, relationships, career, home, money, social life, health, personal development, mindfulness, travel. Anything that is meaningful to us.
When I look at my life in this way, I can start to get intentional about how I want to live my life and what’s important to me. It helps me identify the areas that are going well, and the areas that maybe I want to grow or make some changes. Do I want to add some flavour? Is the decoration a distraction from the enoughness of the (life) cake just as it is? Am I brave to accept that I am enough just as I am?
What I’m aiming for is to get my slices looking pretty even. I love being a mum, but if I don’t have time with my friends and pursuing my hobbies too, then I’m not always feeling patient when I’m faced with a mountain of washing, or I’m navigating a Lego assault course in my lounge. I also love my job, and would happily work 24/7, but if I don’t take time out to look out for my own health and practise mindfulness, then I find myself quickly hitting overwhelm and burnout.
My cake of life helps me create balance and allows me to make choices to become the best I can be.
I’ve heard people say that when all the different areas of their life are going well, that they are just waiting for something to go wrong, that it feels too good to be true.
It can be scary to trust that we can have all the things in our life that we want, so for many there is a tendency to expect the worst when things go well, to protect our self from being hurt. The antidote for this is gratitude. It allows us to embrace the joy in our lives and to know that we really can have our cake and eat it!!
