This is my first tiramisu.

Saw how to make one on Jamie Oliver’s show, got to do it last nite. Never thought in my life that I would make a tiramisu cake, but now there it is. It’s sitting now in the fridge waiting for me to taste it at lunch time.

By the way, when was the last time you had a ‘first’?

I was thinking this while doing the dishes, wow, last nite I made my first whipped cream (you whisk this milk-like substance into cream) and my first egg white foam (you whisk gooey egg white into foams like in a bubble bath). I watched tons of people doing it on cooking shows, but have never tried it myself until tonite.

So, again, when was the last time you had a ‘first’?

A ‘first’ is a good thing. It means that you are willing to try new things. You’re willing to overcome lazyness and move your rear from the TV. It means that you are an interesting person, you are ready for an adventure (even if it’s only tiramisu making).

It also means that you are living a life of learning, which is one of the things that will keep people passionate about living. If you are bored with life, maybe you’re stuck with the same thing over and over and over again. Learning something new is the surest way to spark excitement in your life.

I know people that are against the very idea of trying something new. Even trying a new restaurant terrifies them, let alone doing their first mountain hiking. They moan at the thought of failing, the taste of hardwork of learning something for the first time. They’re comfortable in what is established, what is known, what is predictable. Downside? They do not go anywhere 🙂 They got bored fast. And to quote my favorite Don Draper line in Mad Men, “Only boring people are bored.”

So, again, when was the last time you had a ‘first’?

First spaghetti with tomatoes and clams?
First lemon cake, with strawberries circling the top and the name of your loved one written in caramel?
First presentation in front of ten people you most admire?
First car wash with your family, with hoses and sponges and bubbles?
First run on Jalan Thamrin on a car-free day?
First language beside English?
First ever finished book?
First backpack trip el-cheapo style across Hongkong and Macau?
First playdate with your dogs on a beach?
First job application to that company you always wanted to work for?
First lunch alone with you father in law?
First lunch alone with your father?

So many ‘first’s are around you. Inspirations are everywhere. All you need is some determination and wonderment. Nat Geo Channel said it best, “Live curiously.”

Failures do and will happen. The pasta was awful. The cake did not rise up. The presentation sucked. The application turned down. The lunch was awkward. Do not falter: that’s the whole point of a ‘first’: you sucked at the first try. But then you learned something, then you got better, and next thing you know, it’s a new set of skill or a new set of very valuable experiences. Oh, also a bonus of a very interesting life.

So dudes and dudettes, plan a ‘first’, right now. Then one more tommorow. Then one more the day after that. Let me know how it goes 🙂

Now excuse me I need to dive into my tiramisu. If it does suck, hey, it’s only my first!

Edward
PS: As we speak my brother and his wife are zig-zaging with their best friend couple, backpacking style across China. Both parents, they never wanted to leave their children on trips. But this is a first, adult only trip they ever taken in the last nine years. The reports? They are tremendously happy. Good for them 🙂