This past Friday night, I cooked dinner
and my husband decided to try a new pie recipe. He makes the best
sweet potato pies ever, but wanted to try sweet potato/pumpkin pie. (I'm
telling you he really thinks he is Chef Boyardee.) We were off to a late
start, so the pies (2 deep dish) weren't done baking until 11 pm. My
microwave is situated over the oven, suspended underneath the cabinet.
There is a mechanism that helps the microwave to protect itself from too much
heat exposure. If the oven gets too hot, there is an exhaust fan that
immediately switches on inside the microwave and diverts the excess heat through the
venting system in the ceiling. Normally, once the oven is turned off and
gradually cools down the exhaust fan cuts off.
Once the pies were finished, oven shut
off, pies placed on table to cool, I snuck a piece of pie and journeyed
into the bedroom. After lying in bed and
watching TV for a while, I needed a glass of water and had to go back to the
kitchen. I noticed the kitchen was still
pretty warm and the exhaust fan on the microwave was still engaged. Strange!
It had been nearly 45 minutes, so surely everything should have cooled
off by now. I turned the knobs on the
stove to make sure they were all off and they were. But when I opened the oven door, a gust of
hot air nearly singed my eyebrows. It
was HOT! Immediately I yelled for Byron
and he rushed into the kitchen trying different things to shut the oven off. Since it was after midnight, it was too late
to call our handyman, so we searched the computer search engines by typing in “my
oven won’t shut off”. We received
several things that could be wrong and found varying responses about the
temperature apparatus gone bad and the like. They all suggested things that needed
someone skilled to address. One response caught my attention though…it said to UNPLUG
the oven. I did just that and called Oklahoma Natural Gas just to be sure that
I didn’t have to worry about the gas line that went into the back of the
oven. After receiving a favorable
response from them, we opened the kitchen windows (err on the side of caution), PRAYED and went to bed.
We didn’t need the oven on Saturday,
but I wanted a bowl of Cream of Wheat on Sunday morning. I decided to plug the oven back in, cook my
breakfast cereal on the stovetop quickly before the oven could fully heat back
up. It worked and then I UNPLUGGED it
once again. For Sunday dinner we had our
mouths set on stuffed roast chicken, so I turned the oven on once again,
roasted my chicken and turned the oven back off. This morning, I decided to make
sausage egg burritos for the boys, before sending them off for school (that’s
their favorite). I plugged the oven back into the wall socket, cooked my
sausage, combined the eggs, toasted the flour tortillas, grated the cheese,
rolled the tortillas, UNPLUGGED the oven and called the boys for breakfast.
Hopefully today we’ll the oven fixed or
replaced, since we’ve already informed our handyman.
But it got me thinking that sometimes we are like the oven that just won't turn off and continues overheating. So many times we’ve been caught up in situations, that if left
uncontrolled, could potentially overheat, cause a fire and damage everything around it.
·
A job where you’re unfilled because
you’ve outgrown it….overheated.
·
A relationship that you keep trying to
hold onto even though you know it serves no purpose and is
unhealthy…overheated.
·
Family members that you keep trying to
save, although they refuse to participate in their own liberation…overheated.
·
Worry and stress…stress and worry…more
worry and more stress……..overheated.
·
Doing things that keep you running
around busy, but not productive…overheated.
Becoming overheated may show up differently
for each of us, but we know once the heat inside is too much to handle
it has the potential to damage things around us. In times like this, you must UNPLUG. Perhaps you can’t permanently fix the
situation that caused you to get overheated, but you can simply UNPLUG for a
little while.
- UNPLUG from gossip.
- UNPLUG from the fatalistic view of yourself.
- UNPLUG from the Superman or Wonder woman persona.
- UNPLUG from draining conversations.
- UNPLUG from unhealthy relationships.
- UNPLUG from groups or organizations that take up too much of your time without yielding anything.
- UNPLUG - UNPLUG – UNPLUG
Once you’ve unplugged for a while and
everything has cooled down, you have several options; you can plug back in on
your schedule, fix the broken piece or completely replace it. Only you can decide what is expedient for
you. The point is…you do have an option. No
one will force you to make the decision; it’s totally up to you. The only time that you should stay plugged in
consistently, is when you have control of the thermostat and can adjust it on
your terms. Until then just stay
UNPLUGGED.
Now walk it out…
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