Don't worry about the milk, Remember the meat!!

A lot of times I don’t feel like I have something original to say. So I tell stories, because they teach us ordinary life lessons in a unique way that is tailored for us. So I’ll begin with a story, a story that happened to me last week.

I was feeding the missionaries for dinner, and went out on a limb and decided to not buy pizza for them. This was a first for me, so I hesitantly went to Subway and got three footlongs—Oven Roasted Chicken Breast on Italina Herbs and Cheese. Remember the meat. That will be important later on.  So I’m in line, the subway smell slowly oozing into my clothes, as the worker goes through the motions and takes my order. I notice that she was pretty chincy with the lettuce, so I politely ask her if she could add more. After normally ordering two large pizzas for the missionaries, I was worried that these subs with just a little lettuce and other sparse veggies were gonna do the trick.  She dabs a little more on there and then finishes the order.

So we’re now back at my house, opening up our subs, when one of the missionary states matter-of-factly “There’s like nothing in here”. Awkward. I was a little annoyed at the ladies who cut back on all the veggies. Then the Elder says, “there’s no meat in here!” So ya..here I was with three footlongs consisting of lettuce, banana pepper, and chipolte, but with no chicken. I had three pieces of ham that we then used to put on our footlongs. I couldn’t taste the ham.

So why do I tell this story? Well lately I’ve been thinking about how we just coast through life a lot of the times and miss—maybe miss isn’t the right word, how we don’t fully appreciate or recognize the most important things. I mean, seriously, I was worried about half a cup of iceberg lettuce when six pieces of chicken were gone! It’s definitely easy to get sidetracked. I do it all the time.

So what I guess I’m trying to say is something people already know. Spend time with the most important things. After all, saying that something is the “meat” of any story or problem is another way we humans like to suggest it’s something to focus on.

So what is the most important thing? I’m not claiming to know the answer, and won’t say that there even is a right answer, cause there isn’t, but something does come to mind. A teacher I had last year at MacEwan said this: the most important thing you will do as a teacher is to build and strengthen relationships with others. That sounded like a pretty foolproof answer to me. Whether that relationship is with God, a good friend, a new roommate, or yourself, strengthening that relationship does wonders to your happiness, and the happiness of others.

This teacher helped me remember what my meat was, and guided me to know where to go in order to get it.  Similarly, in Tuesdays with Morrie, a dying professor counsels one of his former students, Mitch Albom, and helps him remember his oven roasted chicken breast, so to speak:

““We’re so wrapped up with egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the radiator when it breaks—we’re involved of trillions of little acts just to keep going. So we don’t get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, “is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing? You need someone to probe you in that direction. It won’t just happen automatically.” I knew what he was saying. We all need teachers in our lives. And mine was sitting in front of me”.

Well that’s my little musing for the month. It would be cool if you found yourself thinking about a time when someone (I would use the word teacher here but I want you to think more broadly) helped you remember your meat and helped you focus on the important things in life.