All You Can Eat

If you and I ever find ourselves in proximity to a buffet line, I’ve got news for you: I am judging you. I am assessing the way you move through that line and how it is impacting me getting my food. This comes from my general impatience, my commitment to continuous process improvement, and how quickly I get hangry. My greatest buffet adversary is who I call “the over-analyzer.” My plate strategy is generally to fill it, knowing that I will be making a second and perhaps even third trip should there be a dish I didn’t have space for - or might want more of later. However, the over-analyzer tends to debate each option or want to see the entire range of options before committing to put it on their first plate. Take the food, move on, live to fight another day, and let me at it.

As I was half-teasing, half-reprimanding someone ahead of me for overanalyzing the options of a buffet, they retorted that not everyone has my metabolism, knowing full well that my metabolism died a decade ago. “Some of us,” the friend continued, “don’t like to commit to what we won't finish.”

When it comes to food, I always clean my plate. But as I thought about other aspects of life and leadership, I couldn’t help but wonder how many times my eyes are bigger than my stomach. As I pile more and more on my plate and especially the plate of others, can we even tell what we’re eating? If we can go back for more, why take so much the first time around? Am I creating the space to enjoy the uniqueness of what we are discussing, developing, or doing?

I decided that while I still never want to be behind this person in a buffet line, perhaps what I might see as over-analyzing might have a place in making sure we’re not only fed, but we can truly taste what the Lord has blessed us with at every table. Prayers for your selections this week!