Personal Stories

Skipping steps

A few nights ago, I was walking down the stairs in my condo and, as I thought I was stepping down onto the landing, I found myself falling through space.

The floor was not where I expected it to be. Apparently, I had overestimated how many stairs I had gone down and I fell face-first onto the hardwood floor.

Luckily, I broke my fall, something I have done thousands of times on the jiu-jitsu mats, but it still hurt. There I was, lying on the floor, both shocked and embarrassed, wondering how I’d gotten there.

As it turns out, each step is there for a reason. Skipping some may get you where you are going more quickly, but haste comes at a cost.

Save the best for last

…or enjoy it while you can? 

In my home growing up, each person was given their own plate of pre-portioned food at dinnertime. 

When there was food on my plate that I liked, I would often save it for last, eating the vegetables first, anticipating the reward of eating the best food at the end. 

In my wife’s home, they ate family style, where all of the food was presented in the middle of the table for everyone to share. 

Since everyone in my wife’s family was eating the same food at the same time, if she tried to save what she liked for later, it was often eaten before she ever had the chance to enjoy it. 

On our second date, I experienced a bit of culture shock. We were eating dinner together and she saw that, having finished the rest of my meal, I had one single shrimp left on my plate. Suddenly, she reached across with her chopsticks, snatched my shrimp, and ate it. 

I looked at her in shock as she laughed, enjoying the shrimp I had been saving. 

It took me a while to get the joke, but life is short. Enjoy it while you can. You never know when someone will steal your shrimp.