Pancakes and Porsches: The Art of Savoring Life’s Delicious Surprises

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

I once posted a video where I expressed my gratitude for finding a dollar on my hike. Some people reacted with a laughing emoji.

Yet, the previous week, I found a nice twenty dollar bill on my walk. The week after that mighty dollar find, a cool ten thousand dollars dropped into my bank account. Where I gave grace and gratitude to all that is and all that was.

My life wasn’t always like this. Where my mornings would start off with abundance and end with magic. I was once like many people, laughing at the smaller finds, constantly searching for the bigger ones.

I played the victim when I could have played the main character. Not because I didn’t want to, it was because the directors in the first half of my life taught me how to play the victim.

Each of our realities depends on how we see the world through the lens given to us when we were younger. Many children grow up to never check back to Life’s optometrist to upgrade or diagnose their lens of perception. They continue to see the world as if they were the same children, with the same emotions from the same experiences way back when.

The thicker the trauma, the heavier the lens. The more difficult it is to see the truth, even when our truth lies inside.

I began the practice of giving and saying gratitude over a decade or two ago. For every green light to being spontaneously upgraded, I silently gave thanks to Spirit.

So when I tried to pay for my pancakes this morning in the hospital’s cafeteria, the neck-tattooed cashier looked at me and said, “You’re good.”

Myheart warmed up as I responded, “Thank you,” and immeditately sent her an energetic hug. “Thank you, Spirit!” I announced as I sat down to eat my breakfast.

This was a mere three days after being told that loaner cars from the local Porsche dealership were two weeks out. It was finally time to have the dealership look at the squeaking sound in my SUV that popped up a couple of months ago.

I decided to drop off my car a day before the original appointment, where the lovely service advisor I had just met, Frank*, said he’d try to see if he could get me a loaner car.

“I don’t think I need one now, as I’m driving to Houston tomorrow,” I told him. Frank gave me a look when he shook his head. “Got it. It’s better to take one now if they’re available because the wait list is so long,” I responded to his non-verbal suggestion.

He nodded his head in agreement as his eyes scanned the computer screen, searching the inventory. Frank jumped up, “I’ll be back,” and left me for no more than four minutes.

“I got you a loaner,” he said as he walked back into his cubicle. “It’s the white 2024 Porsche Cayenne sitting right there. It only has ten miles on it.”

“Incredible. You became my hero today,” I said to Frank.

Not only did someone have to teach me how to drive the newest Cayenne, but the plastic wrap was still in the interior. “Thank you, Spirit,” I said out loud as I drove off the lot and turned up the radio. Spirit gifted me an accelerated timeline to have me drive a six-figure car because I asked nicely.

What’s the difference between a free pancake and a free upgrade to a brand-new Porsche as my loaner? One could immediately see the price difference between the two but for me, they’re both blessings from the heavens. I treat them equally as gifts from the heart because the small things add up to the big things and the big things add up to mountains of gratitude.

Katt Wiliams said it best:

“I’m one of the richest people who ever lived. Only in the fact when I wake up in the morning, no matter where I am, I don’t need nothing. Whatever I need is right around me. And whatever I don’t have, it’s only cause I don’t have it. It’s not because I can’t get it. And because I’m favored by God, I don’t wanna look at nothing I don’t wanna have. Because I know how blessed I am. If I look at it, I got it.”

Most people dream of a life like this. I made the hard decision to make it into my reality. Easy would have been playing the role of victim for the rest of my life. Easy would have been staying in the perpetual existence of suffering. Instead, I chose to make an appointment at Life’s optometrist the moment I was made aware of its existence. Once that appointment was done, I decided to continue onward to ask as many questions as possible.

My burdens became my blessings as I cleansed the lens of emotional baggage layer by layer. This wasn’t easy by any means. When you have layers of emotional complexity, wiping and cleaning it requires effort and patience, something I also had to teach myself.

My complex traumatic upbringing wasn’t my fault but the healing was my responsibility.

I made the decision to own everything inside of me and outside of me; which resulted in the continual shift of perception of how I saw the world. Which in essence, was my world.

There comes a time when you want blessings to rain down upon you. Maybe there were times you expected them. Then there’s the moment you take ownership of your shit and begin wiping down the layers of your lens because you decided you want a better life.

Then, when you least expect it, you’ll be giving gratitude for your free pancakes and Porsche upgrades as well.

This unexpected drive in a luxurious Porsche wasn’t just about the car — it was a symbol of the abundance that comes when we embrace gratitude. When we roll up our sleeves to dig inward, clearing each layer as we go.

I send you so many blessings on your healing journey.