Facing failure

Have you ever heard someone say, "There's no such thing as bad cake"? My husband would beg to differ. A perfectionist by nature, he must follow a recipe to a tee for fear of failure. Yesterday was a perfect example. He baked a two-layer cake for my birthday, but when he removed them from the oven, he quickly realized he'd forgotten baking soda. In a panic, he whipped up two more layers for my cake before our friends showed up to celebrate. How sweet is that? Doubly sweet!We all make mistakes. We write down the wrong appointment. time. We miss answers to test questions. We forget ingredients. Perhaps we're trying to follow a perfect eating plan and we "screw up" and have a cookie? Should that stop us from continuing to eat healthy again? I sure hope not.When you find yourself in a self-depreciating mode of "mistakes", try to have grace and forgive yourself. If you've upset someone close to you, would you stop spending time with them? If you made a mistake at your job, would you quit? Probably not.Take the same approach to your eating habits. Rather than beating yourself up over a "forbidden" food eaten, remember that FOOD IS FOR EATING. It's to be shared, enjoyed, savored. it's not meant to leave you with feelings of guilt or shame. I'm not sure when we will eat the "cake failure" in the freezer, but it will serve as a reminder that no one and no diet is perfect. And that, is perfectly OK.