Pity the poor cauliflower. Known as one of the world’s healthiest vegetables, he was content to swim in an occasional warm cheese sauce or crisp under some butter and breadcrumbs. Life was good until some overzealous chefs convinced this seasoned, yet impulsive veggie to recreate himself as a starch. So much for snap decisions…

Now labelled as a faux, the once proud cauliflower graces dinner tables masquerading as rice or mashed potatoes, leaving foodies thrilled to discover a new craze. At the same time, he remains confused as to his station, both in life and on the buffet line.

I don’t usually look to vegetables for life lessons, but in this case, I’ve made an exception. Having to choose between two or more courses of action can be quick and trivial or agonizingly life changing. Decisions constantly confront us, and each person’s approach differs. Whether we do endless research, toss a coin, or just put it off, we realize that sooner or later, we need to deal with it.

According to the website skillsyouneed.com, the best method to help you come to a conclusion is to apply a combination of both intuition (that gut feeling) and reasoning (using facts and past experiences). Here are some simple steps to help improve the decision-making process:-

• Brainstorm: What are all the possible options available? 
• Time factor: How long do you have to make a decision? Will the delay affect the outcome?
• Information Gathering: Research will help your confidence level. 
• Risk factors: Consider the worst possible outcome. Is it better to be safe? 
• Pros and cons: Put a line down the middle of a page and get to work. 
• Make the decision: Don’t let yourself have any “what ifs” and move forward.

Here are some methods I did not notice on the above list: 

• Fortunetelling: I still get chills when I think of the fortuneteller I met in a New York City restaurant many years ago. She was in the middle of guiding me in making some important decisions and then disappeared, never to be heard from again. 
• The Ann Landers syndicated newspaper column: For 56 years, the column doled out advice and helped America make decisions from meatloaf ingredients to family disputes. 
• The pieces of paper that we folded up as children, wrote a series of end results down on each fold, then manipulated them in our hands to see which one it would open to. 
• The Eight Ball: My grade school friends and I would take turns asking the magic ball a question. After turning it around a few times, the answer would magically appear and the yes, no, or maybe response always seemed to be the answer we had hoped for. 

And now, back to cauliflower. Not wanting to be considered a flash in the pan, he spiced up his life and had a heated fling with a carrot, resulting in the birth of orange cauliflower. Currently fresh out of rehab, cauliflower is now busy counseling zucchini as she makes her way down that same lonely road to stardom, having made the decision to take the lead as the vegetable of choice with the Veggetti, the spiral vegetable cutter, that will turn her into carb-less pasta.

Author’s Note:
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