When life is a master chef: lessons from the meals we didn’t order.

There are days life feels like a gourmet experience, full of unexpected courses, strange flavors, and unfamiliar textures. And yet, we have no menu in our hands. No option to pick what we want. Just a seat at the table and a quiet instruction: You must eat it.

This morning, a thought echoed in my mind:
“Life is a master chef. You have no idea about the next meal it is preparing for you, and you must eat it. This meal has deprived some of their prestige and status, and this same meal has bestowed upon some prestige and status.”It stopped me in my tracks.

Because isn’t that what life does?
It serves us meals we didn’t ask for, some delicious and rewarding, others bitter and hard to swallow. And more interestingly, what tastes like poison to one may nourish and elevate another.

The unchosen Feast.

We all have our stories. The young professional laid off unexpectedly, to the mother who buried a child. The man who fell in love after years of heartbreak, to the entrepreneur who lost everything but found peace again, and the widow who smiled again. No one saw the next course coming. You don’t choose the meal. Life chooses it for you, sometimes randomly, sometimes by the unseen rhythm of time and destiny, and yet, you must eat. Not because it’s fair, not because it tastes good, but because refusing the meal doesn’t stop the service.

Prestige Lost, Prestige Gained

One of the hardest things to reconcile in this life is the uneven distribution of outcomes. The same storm that destroys one man’s house may water another’s field. The same public scandal that humbles a once-adored figure may launch another into the spotlight of sympathy and admiration. Why? Because life, like a master chef, plays with contrast. It teaches through paradox. Sometimes the loss of status is not punishment, but preparation. Sometimes sudden fame is not reward, but a new test in disguise. In this strange kitchen called life, everyone eats, but no one eats the same.

Lessons from the Plate.

1. Eat mindfully.
Whether bitter or sweet, every experience contains nutrients such as wisdom, growth, perspective. You may not enjoy the taste now, but it could be nourishing something deep within you.

2. Never judge another’s plate.
What looks like luxury to you may be a heavy meal for someone else. What appears to be punishment may be the exact medicine they needed. We don’t know the recipe. We didn’t write the menu.

3. Stay humble when the meal is good.
If you’re in a season of joy, wealth, recognition, or love, savor it. But don’t assume you cooked it all. Life has its hand in every flavor.

4. Stay open when the meal is tough.
Disappointment, grief, failure etc. are bitter dishes. But the master chef may be cleansing your palate, or preparing you for something richer.

5. Trust the process.
You may not understand the current dish. But the table hasn’t stopped turning. Life always has another course coming.

Final Course

At the end of it all, life teaches us not to cling to the taste, but to the transformation. To eat, digest, and to be changed. So, whatever the master chef has served you today, be it wealth or want, clarity or confusion, joy or judgment, eat it with awareness. Sit at the table with dignity. You may not know what’s next, but you’re being fed something that matters.