“My plate is full.”
I tend to say that a lot. And for quite a while, I’ve tried to see it as a sign of abundance.
I love to eat, and when there is a lot of delicious food available, I pile it on until my plate is full.
I love to work, and when I really dedicate my time to being as thorough and focused as I can, my time fills up.
I love to learn, and when I have a lot of opportunities to gather more information, I sign up until my calendar is full.
I love to help, to volunteer, to be with family, to hang out with friends, exercise and cook… and when I have a lot of opportunities, I fit them into every nook and cranny of time I can find.
This works until I try to add some self-care like more sleep or more consistent exercise or longer meditations. I look at my calendar and see there is no space left.
So I think: slow down. Savor. Save extras for leftovers to enjoy another day. But does this work?
In someways, yes–especially when it comes to the literal full plate of food.
But in other, more important ways, perhaps my “full plate” persona comes from a place of scarcity rather than abundance. Or so it was suggested to me a few days ago when I first shared the image above.
When we come from a culture of scarcity, reinforced perhaps from a childhood of scarcity, we tend to think we are not enough. When we aren’t enough, we must need to be more. When we don’t have enough, we must need more. So we pile it on. Hence, I’ve developed a “full-plate” syndrome.
The next time I look at my full-plate, I will indeed savor, slow down, and save some for later. I will appreciate the abundance. I might also consider whether or not I truly need so much on that plate and, in the interest of being kind and compassionate to myself and others, take on a little less.
I’m still working through this analogy, and I welcome your contributions to my thinking. Thanks for reading.
