by Millie Hrdina

I love waffles! I have loved waffles since childhood. So inheriting two waffle irons was a joyful aspect of family comings and goings.

My mother-in-law’s waffle iron is a classic antique. It has two separate round griddles on a chrome-plated base with wooden handles and a cloth-covered, five-pronged, removable electric cord. Along with it came her beliefs regarding all the fuss that was involved in making waffles. “It is too much trouble,” and “it’s not really worth it,” she had said. It was apparent that she didn’t use it very much.

However, it was my first waffle iron, and I gladly accepted it. My sons were both very young, and my husband was very helpful. We used it a lot. I love waffles. My family loves waffles. It made for a relaxed, guaranteed fun start of the day. It was worth any trouble.

My own mother’s waffle iron is a later ‘60s model, with the electric cord hardwired into it. It is double sized with rectangular upper and lower plates that can be removed or reversed for grilling sandwiches. As with the previous waffle iron, beliefs came along with it too. “Yes, waffles are a lot of trouble,” she said, “but cleanup is easy.” My mother had used it a fair bit.

When I received this one my boys were older, and help around the kitchen was sparse. However, weekend mornings were still relaxed enough, now and then. And with the proper persuasion, along the lines of, “Mom, you make the best waffles!” or “Come on Millie, you know no one can compete with your whole wheat waffles,” waffles would be made. We used this waffle iron a fair bit too.

Then both units got packed away and moved to California with me, without the family. One or the other of them was used once every few years. Not often but when they were...well, I love waffles.

My new home has lots of storage, an advantage of living in a hillside house. However, the kitchen is
not just small, it’s teeny. So my mothers’ waffle irons were packed away somewhere under the house. Years passed, and I had not made waffles in a very long time. But on this particular morning I had a taste for waffles. You know how it is when you get a craving for something, and it doesn’t go away until you satisfy it with just the right food. Actually, it involved more than just the food. What I desired was the complete experience. One that contained relaxed, warm and friendly shared moments.

Deciding that I would make waffles, I now had to choose which waffle iron to use. My mother’s beliefs made that choice for me, “If I was going to go through all the bother, especially since it may only be for me, I might as well go for the easy cleanup.”

Somewhere between getting the waffle iron out of storage and pulling the first waffle off the hot griddle, I allowed a shadow of they are too much trouble to come over me. The shadow also carried the belief, “Poor, foolish me going through all of this trouble and no promise of it being shared.” Feelings of frustration and anger at myself for even considering this time consuming and messy indulgence flooded over me as the dough overflowed the griddle. These feelings intensified when I tried to remove the baked waffle off the griddle. It stuck! It stuck to both the upper and lower plates. Removable or not I had a mess on my hands. I was not feeling happy or relaxed. Nor did I feel like sharing at this moment.

Before I started the cleanup, I reviewed the situation. What was the experience I preferred to have? Oh yes, I remember. It was, “I am enjoying my great waffles in a relaxed and friendly shared moment.” In his workbook, ReSurfacing: Techniques for Exploring Consciousness, Harry Palmer shares a valuable little trick: “When attention is being used to create something, it can become stuck on uncertainty. Directing attention back through the uncertainty to the result that one wishes to create magically resolves the situation.”

I got to work using the Avatar technology on my beliefs. First I identified the limiting beliefs (shared above), and I dismantled them with help of the Avatar exercises. I then created new beliefs and feelings aligned with my preferred reality for this morning. I felt content and peacefully happy. I was open to sharing the moment.

When I shifted my attention back to my waffle making business, I realized I had totally cleaned up the mess and had properly seasoned the griddle plates with no apparent effort.

I was ready to start the next batch of yummy waffles.

As I poured the batter for the last waffle onto the griddle, my housemate stuck his head in the doorway and asked, “What are you making? Good smells woke me up.” I smiled and invited him to join me for one of Millie’s great waffle breakfasts. He returned the grin and an offer to set the table. Just as we were sitting down, ready to indulge, our next-door neighbor, a good friend, came through the kitchen door. She wanted to share some ripe strawberries she had bought the previous day. I laughed with joy and invited her to join us.

The three of us relished the taste of our mutually created breakfast as we talked, laughed, and shared warm friendship. I had created my desired reality just by changing my beliefs. Simple. Avatar waffles.

Millie Hrdina, California

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