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Melted Pork Cutlets

  • Writer: Clinton Edgar
    Clinton Edgar
  • May 14
  • 3 min read

A Lesson in Balancing Energy and Time With Life's Tasks and Goals


I enjoy cooking, and I’m fairly competent at doing so.  I can prep ingredients, fin

d and understand recipes, and select appropriate procedures for getting the job done.  Added bonus is that I enjoy cooking (and baking too).  However the other day I melted pork cutlets while cooking and it served as a valuable reminder of limitations on how we commit time and energy every day to activities we deem important.  Here’s how it all went down…


The night before, my spouse and I decided to make chili for dinner.  We didn’t have fresh tomatoes, so we used canned ones, saving time in the overall prep.  This left the task of cutting green onions, adding beans and hominy (don’t knock it until you try it), and prepping the protein.  I chose pork cutlets, which I decided to boil before adding to the slow cooker.  The steps were simple in concept: 1. Open the package, 2. Place in pot of water on a slow boil, 3. Dice when fully cooked and, 4. Put into the slow cooker.  I achieved ½ of those steps successfully as I got through step 2 before becoming sidetracked – a combination of ADHD and multitasking too much – and before I knew it, over an hour passed.  The pork cutlets were boiling for over an hour, and I didn’t think of it until I smelled something odd from my home office upstairs.  And then I realized, in a panic, that I forgot about the boiling pork cutlets.


I rushed downstairs to the realization that the water in the pot had completely boiled away, leaving only the pork cutlets to cook, melt, disintegrate under the constant heat.  The smoke was terrible, and I fully expected to see flames!  (Fortunately, no flames.)  I rushed the still-smoking pot outside and put it in a safe, non-flammable, place to cool down.  Back inside, I opened windows, turned the whole-house fan on high, and began to puzzle over why my smoke detectors weren’t screaming at us from the top of their decibel range.  The result – melted pork cutlets, a smoke-filled house, and a lingering smell in the house for days. 


DIY Cooking is fun, but is it the Most Effective?

It could have been worse.  But it could have been better, and this got me thinking of how trying to do too much on our own – for all the right reasons – can backfire with unintended consequences.  This happens with financial planning and investments too.  Life is a complex and demanding experience and it’s worth considering what happens to balance when time and energy commitments to other life priorities start to creep in.  Financial planning and investment on your own might start off as doable, but just like a melting pot of pork cutlets, the realization that it’s too much and no longer sustainable can be sudden.  What if, instead, this component of life was outsourced to gain time and energy back, allowing greater dedication and focus to life’s other commitments that bring greater joy, purpose, fulfillment, and value?  This is what we work to provide at Better Pockets Financial…value to clients by providing financial planning and investment management to return time and energy, supporting you in creating a positive impact in your pocket of the world.  Whether through life experiences, volunteerism, family activities, or simply giving back to others, we’re here to support.  Getting started is simple and begins with scheduling a Get To Know You meeting with one of our associates.  You can find their scheduling links on our contact page here https://www.betterpocketsfinancial.com/contact. 


Ultimately, pork chili is always better than melted pork cutlets.

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