Tasting Patience
Sometimes the most meaningful lessons come from the simplest of objects.
I have always believed that patience is the greatest virtue. Though I toil in practice, I always strive to live up to its full embodiment.
I learned a valuable lesson in patience from chocolate this past week. I hope you can find meaning in its message.
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Enjoy…
Have you ever had a great piece of chocolate?
You open the wrapper and are overwhelmed by its beauty. You take a bite.
As you chew an explosion of deep chocolate flavor and sweetness overcome your taste buds.
This lasts for about 10 seconds until you swallow the chocolate, and then it is gone.
You take a second, a third, a fourth piece, and with each proceeding one, the flavor gets better. As you finish the fourth piece you start to feel not so great, as the sugar is too much. You stop.
Could it be better? Of course.
Take that same first piece of chocolate, and instead of chewing, let it sit.
What you will find is that for the first 45 seconds there is no flavor. That beautiful piece of chocolate appears bland as can be. But then something happens.
Right as the chocolate begins to reach its melting point, the flavor starts to appear. Then slowly, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, the flavor becomes more and more magnificent. Before you realize it, 3 minutes have passed and the chocolate is still melting, coating the entire surface area of your mouth. It is like nothing you have ever tasted before.
After another minute it begins to disappear. That once solid form is now gone, though its impact remains. For another 10 minutes, the intensity of the chocolate stimulates your taste buds as you go on with your day. You have nothing but a feeling of deep gratitude and satisfaction for the humble piece of chocolate.
So what is the difference between our two chocolate experiences? In the first scenario, 4 pieces and 1 minute. Great flavor, but short-lived enjoyment. And feeling sick afterward. In the second? 1 piece and 15 minutes. A gradual build-up that lasted beyond its life.
Good things may come at a whim, yet great things come with ever more time.
Books I’m currently reading:
Token Economy: How the Web3 reinvents the Internet by Shermin Voshmgir
The Guide for the Perplexed by Maimonides
The Ego and the Id by Sigmund Freud
Quotes:
“Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.” - Elon Musk
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Until next time…
O