There is a bit of preparation involved in wonderfully scrambled eggs. Eggs are cracked into a bowl first, and then beaten together. Once beaten, the eggs are ready to be poured into a hot skillet where a thin layer of melted butter is waiting to envelop them.

Focus

Loving the eggs means focusing on them for every second that they are cooking. It doesn't take long to cook eggs, and if you move your attention somewhere else, it's quite likely that they will get overdone. Yes, the eggs I cooked that morning while unloading the dishwasher, setting the table and pouring the milk were terribly overdone.

Understand the bigger picture

Loving the eggs involves understanding that there is more at hand than meets the eye. Cooking eggs is not about eggs, it's about showing the ones you are cooking for that they are loved and valued and that you understand that they need nourishment. Or, applied to another household chore, it's not just about doing laundry; it's about caring that your children/spouse/loved ones wear clean clothes.

So many of our daily activities have a much larger impact than we might imagine or understand at first. Stopping and listening to a client requires more than just listening to her particular problem at a given moment, but is about valuing and appreciating and wanting to listen to her.

Since that time, I have taken my husband's wisdom and this approach into other areas of my life. Am I giving my all during speeches? While I write? Even when I talk to others? Am I preparing, focusing and understanding the bigger picture?

I wish that I could say that I always love the eggs. But I can't.

It's at those moments of failure that I step back, prepare, pay attention, focus on the bigger picture and try again.

In our home, loving the eggs has become a phrase that reminds us that, whatever we do, we should do our best to prepare, to focus and to understand the bigger picture. This allows us to transfer the love we have into the process and thereby affect the end result.

Today, think about loving your eggs.

To find out more about Jackie Gingrich Cushman, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.