My friend gave us a batch of homegrown potatoes and naturally I wanted to make a summertime favorite: potato salad. I opened the refrigerator to add my homemade relish and couldn’t find any. So, I went to the cabinet and searched for another jar. To my surprise, there was only one jar left. That meant it was time to make another few batches.
In 2012, when my youngest was a baby, a dear friend taught me how to can green beans. That same day, she sent me home with a jar of homemade bread and butter relish. There has never been an equal in the grocery store, so now, there is no other option except to make my own relish each year.
A batch usually makes four pints and often kills most of a day after chopping veggies, letting them sit covered in salt for several hours, and then actually cooking and packing the contents into hot jars. But even with all the labor, attention to detail, and multiple steps, the final product is far beyond worth all the extra effort.
When I finally finished my first batch of relish for this season, I thought about all the effort in making only four pints of relish. That’s only eight cups. Those four pints wouldn’t last long at all this summer between hot dogs, potato salad, egg salad.
But then I thought about the kind of effort needed to truly make a lifestyle change. Adding exercise, real rest, a slower pace, and healthier food might be somewhat easy for the first week, but to keep it up is much harder. Just like the relish requires labor, attention to detail, and multiple steps, so does a lifestyle change. And once our bodies, minds, and emotions learn a new way, the final product will be far beyond worth it.
Just like making relish, I want to make myself better. No matter the number of steps, hours of effort, or intentional work, there is nothing better than having a body, mind, and spirit healthy in every way.
How about you? What areas do you need to apply effort to that may seem hard but you know are worth it? What’s holding you back?