Happily ever before/after

Quick exercise: If your friend gave you a half-dozen box of assorted donuts and assuming you’d have to eat all of them some time in the future, would you eat those you like the most first or save them for later? Hold on to that answer first.

While preparing to go to Ralf’s dinner three weeks ago (yes, another delayed entry as usual), I briefly and anonymously shared a tale with Joy, one of our junior college participants, about another participant’s dilemma with work and play. Irrelevant conversations aside, I’ll skip to the portion where I told her of the cake analogy I used so that the seemingly troubled participant shall understand me better.

I told the participant to liken his work attitude to eating a cake. Does he eat the portion of the cake that he likes first or does he save it for later? I shared that I usually eat the bread first and save some icing for later because I am a self-confessed sweet tooth. I told the participant that likening it to work, s/he could do all tasks s/he found uninteresting or difficult first and save the more interesting and easier ones for later. The participant thankfully agreed and hopefully, s/he’s applying the things he learn from a conversation involving cake and icing.

After the sharing, Joy asked me if I believe in happily ever after to which I hesitantly said yes. Sharing what she learned in one of her psychology classes, she said that judging by my analogy, I was the person who fell into the category of those who believe in happy endings and happily ever afters. After much reflection, I completely agreed with her on this. I do indeed believe that enduring through all the difficult and uninteresting leads me to the easier, more interesting and happier ending that I dream of.

And so my dear reader, going back to the initial exercise. If you chose to save the donuts you like for later, you’re just like me, the individual who often believes and falls for happy endings. However, if you chose to eat the donuts you like before, then you’re the happily ever before kind of person. One who wants to face those s/he enjoy first before those s/he finds uninteresting.

At this point, I’d like to make it clear that neither is really better than the other. The point of this entry is not to dichotomize the two seemingly contradicting types. It’s just an ounce of help for us to become more fully aware of who we are.

From this little exercise, we could see how our actions, no matter how trivial or little they are, reveal a great deal about who we are as individuals. Our true selves reveal even in the littlest of ways and we should be aware and sensitive of these things as much as we can.

For even the smallest of actions play a role in discovering and understanding who we truly are, the kind of happy ending everyone is looking forward to.