Elephant tastes great in the beginning ... then not so good towards the middle ... but finally, by the time you are done, it's the best thing you have ever eaten!
Of course, I am not talking about real elephant, I am talking about the metaphorical elephant (ME). You know, the one that you eat "one bite at a time." I have no desire to eat real elephant, but the ME one is a meal that I have to eat all the time; we all do.
At first glance, all ME's may look really, really BIG! But as it turns out there are ME's of all different sizes. Small, Medium, Large and some are even Super-Sized! Often, you don't have a true appreciation for their size until you've made your plan of attack. Then some previously thought to be gigantic ME's turn out to be not so big after all. Some are just medium sized and others truly are really huge. Regardless, it's your ME and you are going to conquer it!
So you see the challenge in front of you and you dig in to your elephant and the first bite tastes great! Your mouth is watering for a second bite, you're excited, you grab your knife and you cut off a second piece, Mmmm, so good! Then you chew a third, a fourth and a fifth bite and suddenly this ME is not tasting so good, maybe you should take a break? So you take a short break (maybe a couple days off) just to get your hunger back. Then your hunger comes back and you dig in again with even more vigor than your first sitting ... six, seven, eight bites this time, but it doesn't taste quite as good as the first sitting (maybe the meat has spoiled a little bit); and besides eight bites is a lot and you're full again. So you think, maybe it's time for another break? This time you take more than a few days off, you walk past a half eaten carcass several times a day. Sometimes you will look at it, other days you do you best not to look in it's direction.
A few weeks goes by and you are at a point where you have to decide "Do I finish eating this ME? Or do I just push the half eaten carcass over a cliff?" At this point the only thing you remember about the taste of ME is that it is very filling, kind of bland and makes you really full, really fast. But if you wait any longer it will spoil. So you dig in, you take a few big bites and then you come up for air and realize "I am almost done." You convince yourself that you can finish this elephant and as you get closer to the end the meat isn't rotten ... it's actually getting sweeter and sweeter. You crave more and start eating faster ... until you're done, you've eaten your ME! Congratulations!
The feast started out tasting great, then got painfully bland and finally the pendulum swung and it may have been the best meal that you have ever finished!
Now, here's the great news ... you don't have to eat your ME alone! Some of the biggest elephants that you will ever have to eat are intended to feed 5 or 6 people! There is plenty to go around and you will get full credit for conquering your ME, you just have to be willing to share! People love to help! Helping others feels good, contributing feels great. Plus, getting help feels pretty good too. And, not only does it make others feel good to help, they know when they have a giant ME at their dinner table you will be happy to reciprocate! Everyone can conquer their ME's faster, without losing their appetite for the elephant and everyone will enjoy the feast!
Today is a great day to conquer your ME!
