Perception is Wrong

"Perception isn't real."

• Elena Radford
  

Perception is Wrong

I used to spend my life traveling. I know, it's what lots of people say they would like to do. You know, "When I retire I want to spend my time traveling!" After having to do it constantly for work I just smile to myself. I know there are challenges that go along with all that traveling. They just haven't discovered them yet. But, traveling all the time led me to first discovered "The Perception Trap."

You know that perceiving is the process of using your senses to acquire information about your surrounding environment or situation. You also know that it creates impressions, attitudes, or understanding based on what's observed or thought. The result of the process of perception is a neurological process of acquiring and mentally interpreting information from your senses. So, we really are a bunch of scientists watching our world closely and noting our perceptions in our lab notebook (our minds).

Some people have developed really good powers of observation. They've honed their ability to notice or discern things that escape the notice of most people. Traveling constantly puts you in situations that challenge your accepted beliefs based on your perceptions. In this way it is food for the mind. If there is one benefit to a life of travel this is it.

When traveling I used to go to many of the same communities on a regular basis so I developed a list of restaurants I liked to frequent. One of these is located in Marina Del Rey, California. There is a Cheesecake Factory there that sits right on the beach and it takes full advantage.

It has huge decks and patios that allow diners to sit outside and enjoy a wonderful water view. I've been there during all kinds of weather. It's almost always good to be outside eating there because they have umbrellas to block the sun. They have heaters and a fire pit to give warmth if necessary. And, they have glass walls to help block any wind that should come up. Since the menu at a Cheesecake Factory is so large and takes so long to get through the weather can change completely before I can even get through the entire thing!

When going through the menu once I stumbled across a drink I'd never seen before. They called it "Frozen Hot Chocolate." I really like warm cocoa so it caught my eye. It was a hot day so I thought I would give it a try; even though my perception was that "Hot Chocolate" was only good on nice cold days.

When my drink came out it was in a tall chilled glass mug. It was the same kind of mug you dream about when you're dying of thirst on a blistering hot day. Yes, this was going to be good, I told myself as I watched the droplets of water slithering down the side of the mug. I was not to be disappointed!

This chilled drink tasted just like the hot version without the hot temperature. I remember my mouth saying to my brain, "This can't be true, it tastes like hot chocolate but its cold!" What a perception buster!

My perception of what "hot chocolate" should be was changed forever! I found that I liked the frozen version much more than I liked the warm version. Whenever I went to Marina Del Rey I would order that very drink and savor every sip.

The sad thing is that after being on the menu for a few years they took it off. So if you go to a Cheesecake Factory you won't find it there unless they've put it back on the menu and I just don't know about it. I was really sad to see it go and haven't been able to find it anywhere else for years except for one time.

I was at a Cheesecake Factory and asked the waiter for the dink. He said, "It isn't on the menu anymore but I think I can get the kitchen to make one for you." I was thrilled when I saw him walking back to me a few minutes later with my favorite drink! What service! What an idea!

From that time forward I knew I could make this delightful drink for myself. Here is my recipe and you can use it exactly or make whatever alterations will make your tongue happy:

½ Cup Milk.

½ Cup Cocoa Mix. (I like the Stephens Gourmet Milk Chocolate)

Ten Ice Cubes.

You'll need a blender that will chop ice to make this and it's real easy if you have one.

Put the milk in the blender. Then put the cocoa mix in the blender. Put the blender on stir and run it for thirty seconds or so. Put five ice cubes into the blender and set it to the "ice drink" setting. I say only five because my wife and I have found that our blender doesn't work real well with more. When blended put in five more ice cubes and then blend them in until all the ices is crushed and the drink is smooth. Enjoy!

Perception can be a valuable thing in life but frozen hot chocolate proves that perception isn't real. Now you know this you'll never needlessly fall into The Perception Trap again. Who knows, you may find something you love because of this alone!