Those who know me know I like steak.
Eating, not cooking.
Lately, it struck me that a steak asks a question you cannot avoid:
How done do you want it?
Rare.
Medium rare.
Medium.
Medium well.
Well done.
There is no universally correct answer.
Only an honest one.
Rare is trust.
You accept the heat did just enough, and you stop there.
Medium rare is balance.
Warmth without surrender.
Control without fear.
Medium is compromise.
You want certainty, but not at the cost of everything else.
Medium well leans toward safety.
Fewer surprises. Less ambiguity.
As for me?
Well done. No red.
Not because I do not understand steak.
But because I understand myself.
After a life full of uncertainty,
some people crave tenderness.
Others crave clarity.
Neither is wrong.
What is wrong is ordering your life
the way someone else insists you should.
We do it all the time.
We stay in situations that feel undercooked
because we are told to be patient.
Or we overcook ourselves chasing certainty,
until what once made us tender disappears.
We call it maturity.
Responsibility.
Strength.
Sometimes it is just fear of choosing for ourselves.
Doneness is personal.
What feels rich and alive to one person
feels raw to another.
What feels safe to some
feels dry to others.
The mistake is not choosing rare or well done.
The mistake is ignoring your own signal
because someone else is louder.
So order your steak the way you like it.
Live your life the way you can actually digest.
Satisfaction does not come from doing it right.
It comes from knowing yourself well enough
to ask for what you need
without apology.
Order it your way.
Notice how it feels.
Peace starts there.