How is life like a pizza?

Have you ever thought about how your life is like a pizza? Probably not – that’s an unusual question! Two things got us thinking about that idea. First, we realized October is National Pizza Month. In 1984, Gary Durnell, publisher of Pizza Today magazine, started the observance. It’s a time when some pizzerias have special promotions and some produce creative pizzas that are not on the normal menu. In 2009 Mama Mia! Pizza Kitchen in Loveland, Texas, prepared pizza with rattlesnake meat topping. Ugh! Sean Taylor, from New York, has celebrated National Pizza Month each year since 2002 by visiting different pizzerias for 31 days each October and rating the pizza he eats there. He’s a real pizza lover!

Secondly, and what germinated the idea of the pizza and life connection, is that at a recent Toastmasters meeting, they gave pizza as the special “word of the day”. That word is supposed to help expand vocabulary. However, instead of words like ephemeral, ubiquitous or portend, words that may send us to the dictionary, the word was pizza. Yes, pizza! Someone must have been hungry to come up with pizza.

Now, back to our initial thought of how life is like pizza. Pizza needs some sort of base, a good foundation, just as life needs a good foundation. Pizza crust or base might be thin, thick, rolled, bread dough or several other types. A good pizza foundation allows us to put what we want on top and supports the rest of the toppings and ingredients. In life, we also need a good foundation on which to build our life. When we have a good foundation for life that’s built on honesty, trust, spirituality, stability and other good values, we can put things on top of those values to make life more successful. We add the “toppings” of what we do in life and who we become.

Then there’s the pizza sauce and cheese which provide the “glue” to connect the foundation base and the ingredients on top so they stay together. In life, sauce and cheese might be represented by relationships, family, and home which are always there so we stay connected.

Notice when you make a pizza you decide what you want it to be. When you order pizza, you don’t just let others decide what it will be and show up at your door with a “surprise” pizza and not know what’s on it. Yet, sometimes in life, people let others decide their choices for them and what their life will include. Then they regret that they are living what fits someone else’s palate for life.
Just as pizza comes in all different varieties, some people like it hot and spicy and some like it more bland and mellow; so as in life some people like life to be lively and more “on the edge” and other like life to be more calm and subdued.

We like to design our pizza whether we make it or order it and we also like to design our life.
We wondered what someone else would say about how life is like a pizza. We met Blake Davis, Chanhassen resident, who shared his ideas. Blake said, “How pizza is like life is, pizza has layers and all the different toppings. Each topping could represent a different aspect of life – life with family, life with friends, life at school, life at work. A good foundation for pizza is a good crust and a good foundation for life is having good values and beliefs, whether that be honesty, trust or loyalty.” We thought our question was a bit difficult but Blake “nailed it” with his creative answer.

How about you? How is your life like a pizza?

Here are some suggestions: Take a look at your life, including your foundation, sauce and special toppings such as relationships, family, work, friends, hobbies, exercise, fun and more. What’s in alignment and what needs adjustment so it’s your best life?

Jim Benton said, “Your life is like a pizza. It could be round. It could be square. But you’ll enjoy it most of all, when it’s something that you share.” Yes, life is like a pizza, and also our community and even the world could be looked at as large pizzas. There are many types of people involved and many activities but when there’s a solid foundation with good values, there can be greater understanding of different palates and preferences. We wonder if you will still look at pizza in the same way. We would enjoy hearing your ideas on this subject.

Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are Success Coaches and owners of The Balance Center. They can be contacted at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2018 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.