I have a massive pot of pinto beans on my stove right now. Most of the beans are done, but I want the spices to mellow and mesh a bit more before I can them, which means I’m doing a lot of checking, stirring, and ‘taste testing.’ (I’m also waiting for new mason jar lids to get in, so that contributes.)

You know what happens when I spend a lot of time doing fairly mindless work, right? I start thinking, and that leads to pondering metaphors and how one thing is like another, and the next thing you know, I’m giggling about… well, life lessons learned from beans. Usually I just keep these oddball musings to myself, but… hey, maybe you could use a giggle today too.

So, with that… the 10 life lessons of beans. (10 felt like a good place to stop, though I am sure there are more.)

1. With time, warmth, and some extended soaking under water, even the hardest, toughest, most unappealing bean softens up a bit. Whether this means some people need drowning in hot water or time at the beach will vary.
2. Good beans, like projects, take time, but take a lot less time under high pressure. This is why deadlines are popular.
3. Beans, like people, usually get better after the first meal, to give them time to really soak up spices. Not always though; some beans are better as one-meal stands.
4. Everyone has their own way of making beans, and as long as they can tolerate eating it and no one else has to, it doesn’t matter how gross it sounds to anyone else.
5. Your favorite way of making beans may not work for everyone, and that’s okay. What matters is that you enjoy it. Don’t go ruining your favorite beans by getting butt hurt because not everyone else likes them your way. Beans are not a popularity contest – that’s chili you’re thinking of.
6. Beans come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, none of which is indicative of how they will taste or if you will like them. Don’t go judging beans based on their outsides – they’ll surprise you.
7. Beans change color and shape after being cooked. Some of the coolest looking beans get really boring looking after landing in hot water and put under pressure, and some of the most boring looking beans turn into the most delicious dishes.
8. Beans don’t usually have the most striking flavor profile at first; that’s what seasoning and sauces are for. People are the same way; it’s our experiences that make us into interesting people.
9. Everyone has a limit on how many beans they can handle before they need time alone. For their own good, and for the good of everyone else around them. Respect that limit.
10. The longer you leave beans in a great mix of seasonings, the better they get, to a limit. Eventually you have to take them out of the pot and eat them. There is only so much prep you can do before it’s time to bite the bean and see how the sauce hits the plate.

Do you have any to add?