THE PERFECT SUNDAY MORNING
Tap tap tap on the window. The rain’s invitation to slow down. The dark clouds did not stop the pleasure of decorating my plate with a perfectly flipped omelet. With coffee and book close by, I savored the pace of nothing to do and nowhere to go. Except, enjoy the perfect Sunday morning.
Then, the toast.
As I raised a toast (literally my toast) to take a bite, warm butter dripped down my hand. Ahh… my perfect Sunday morning. I reached for a napkin that was standing ready in its holder. I heard a voice snip, “They’re for guests.”
“What guests? And who is talking to me?” I thought.
I watched the steam from the omelet dissipate as the two voices in my head wrestled for control.
The napkin.
As I thought about the turn my perfect morning was taking, I grabbed a paper towel to stop the quick moving butter.
That’s when it hit me.
Five Years.
“Don’t use them. You need them for guests.”
It had been a week since I’d run out of regular napkins. I filled the holder with napkins I saved for guests until my next grocery run.
I realized they’d been in my pantry for five years.
Instead of using the napkin that was in front of me, I used a paper towel.
The message was clear.
“You’re not worthy enough to use the good napkins for yourself.”
I was telling myself:
“I’m just being frugal.”
“It’s bad to waste good things.”
“It’s not a big deal to use a paper towel.”
“I might need them for later.”
Knock knock puddin head…you’ve been holding on to them for five years.
The truth is:
I am worthy of good things.
I don’t have to wait for external circumstances to be just right (company coming over) to enjoy my life and the things in it.
When I allow myself to use the good napkins, I expand my capacity to enjoy other good things.
The discomfort I experience in practicing this behavior is worth the payoff.
Don’t believe the lie that your worth and value only exists in possessions, achievements or tasks that are productive and revenue-generating. You are worthy to use a napkin, ask for a raise, get an expensive haircut, or start a business.
USE THE NAPKIN
I wiped the remnants of the omelet from my mouth with the guest napkin. Worthiness actions – one-napkin–at-a-time – shifts my thinking and expands my world.
