Once I was visiting family for the weekend and decided to make pizza for dinner. I made a huge batch of dough. Enough to make four large pizzas. We had a big group eating so I needed a lot.
After mixing and kneading for ten minutes I placed a damp cloth on the dough and put it in the oven to keep warm and prove. Then I went about the rest of my afternoon.
A little while later my wife’s mother came to me upset. She had turned on the oven to make a dessert for everyone and forgotten that the dough was in there. When I went to look at the dough half of it had been baked right there in the bowl. I was disappointed but the wheels were turning in my head.
She said we could just order pizza but I wasn’t about to abandon the dough I had made. I told her we could salvage it.
I pulled off the parts that were half cooked and assessed how much potentially usable dough was left. I could still make enough pizza to feed everyone and I set to work. Everyone was skeptical but I pressed on. Throwing the whole thing in the trash felt like an immense waste.
It was the best pizza I’ve ever made. The dough was soft and chewy, yet crispy. It fed the entire family. And we laughed about what had happened while we polished off the delicious dessert my mother in law had made.
The point of all this is that mistakes happen. They might change how you were going to do things but they don’t need to ruin anything. The dough was fine. In fact I think the agressive proofing actually made it better. We never would have known if I’d just thrown it all in the trash.
When faced with challenges big or small we don’t need to abandon what we’ve done and start over. We just need to adapt. Forge ahead. Persevere. Use them to our advantage. You just might make the best pizza (or anything) of your life.
