Finding a Manual for Life

Dear Friends,

     This week I celebrated my birthday. (Of course, being a woman of a certain age, I am not going to tell you how old I am.) I used to panic around my birthday. Another year had passed by and I still had so much I wanted to accomplish! But today, I no longer panic thanks to a revelation about life I had about five years ago. I experienced a complete shift in my perspective. Since then, I’ve embraced my birthday as a day to celebrate my life and my accomplishments with family and friends.

Where is My Manual for Life?

     When I was younger, I always wished I had a life manual book that would give me answers to my life dilemmas. While I was raising my kids I counted on the parenting books at the public library to give me the answers. I was always questioning my parenting skills and wondering if I really was providing my children with what they needed. I was far away from my mother, my home and culture. How was I supposed to know what normal was? Putting it plainly, I didn’t have faith in my own abilities.

     Still I forged ahead, separating from my husband and raising my three kids on my own. To support us, I started a small café in downtown Ross, CA. One day, after I’d been in business for a few years, another woman asked me if I might provide her with some help starting her own business. I was surprised and thought to myself, “What do I have to offer? I am barely holding on with my own business?” We met several times and I talked through my experiences and ups and downs at the café. My friend thanked me over and over again each time we met. I kept thinking, “Why is she thanking me? I haven’t done anything, really. I just told her what I learned.”

My "Aha!" Moment

     And then suddenly it all came clear. I had been in this woman’s shoes and I was sharing with her how I got from there to owning a thriving small business. While I was building my business, I was just trying to survive and never took the time review and enjoy my accomplishments. But looking back at that moment I could see how much I had accomplished. I also saw how much I loved serving my customers their morning coffee and talking with them.

     Soon after that ‘aha moment,’ I decided to throw a big celebration at the café. It was my seventh year in business and my guests kept asking why I wanted to celebrate my seventh anniversary. It didn’t make much sense to them, though they were happy to join in. To me, the party and its timing made all these sense in the world. I wanted to celebrate my new understanding that my life experience had real value and meaning to me and to others. That party was an acknowledgement of my own growth, the growth of my business and joy I got from sharing daily life with my customers.

Loving Everyday

     I had five more years at the café before I sold it. I loved every day I worked there, making the tall, non-fat lattes and sharing life’s ups and downs with my customers. For those last years, the business thrived and I got energized. Despite my long hours at the cafe, I was happy to do more cooking when I got home, which is how I came up with the granola that became the basis for One Planet Granola.

     Today, I’m running a consumer, packaged food company and still I have no manual for success. The only manual I have is my own experience and faith that despite detours things always work out for the best. It’s a long way from a little café to a company that makes, packages and sells granola, but I’m still making food that I hope will make my customers feel nurtured and loved. That’s a mission that wakes me up and gets me going every morning.

Love, Rana