“If you’re not going to use it…Don’t put it in your cart”!
A friend told me this after listening to me whine and complain about someone who I allowed to Trigger and Offend me.
I had just finished up a Keynote Speech on Leadership when a woman approached me.
She said: “Ed, I really liked your speech, BUT you are Fat and Out of shape! If you want to be a credible speaker on Leadership, you need to lose weight and get into shape”.
I was smiling at her on the outside, BUT on the inside, I was envisioning saying and doing all kinds of bad things.
The next couple of weeks, I stayed in a permanent state of offense. All I could think about was how rude, mean spirited, and disrespectful this person was.
Life is Like a Grocery Store. You have a list of things you want and like that you plan on putting into your cart and buying.
It is important to have a list and to know what it is you need. Try going to a Grocery Store hungry without a list!
You will end up buying a lot of Stuff you don’t need, and some of it will be things you don’t like or that are not even good for you.
My wife has learned the hard way NEVER to send me to the Grocery store alone and hungry!
My friend was trying to tell me that I bought something from the store and then got mad at the store because they offered it!
Grocery stores have thousands of items, but most of them we will never buy because they don’t appeal to our palettes or they are not good for us.
I’ve never purchased Pickled Pigs Feet from the store, nor will I ever do so but they are on the shelf as an option for me.
Can you imagine me getting offended and triggered because the store had the audacity to offer Pickled Pigs Feet?
This is what I suggest you do when someone says something to you that you think is mean, rude, or a form of bullying:
1. Ask yourself, is it true and can it help me? The woman who said I was fat and out of shape was being honest. IT WAS TRUE!
2. If it’s not true and you cannot use it – THEN DO NOT PUT IT IN YOUR CART…DON’T BUY IT!
3. If it is True and can help – Then like most things you buy at the Grocery Store, you MUST PREP IT BEFORE YOU EAT IT!
This means you clean, season, and cook the food to the desired taste…The State that YOU CAN CONSUME IT!
I had to do this with “You’re Fat and Out of Shape.” I could not eat this raw – like most raw food it has to be prepared in a certain way to meet health standards so it does not get us sick.
Once I was able to Season, Cook, and Consume what she said, it changed my life.
Life is like a Grocery Store…ONLY put in your cart that which you plan to use!
Find Your Passion…Find Your Life!