Many moons ago there lived a young warrior in a small mining village. He

dreamed of marrying the Chief’s daughter. Her beauty was legend across the

mountain villages.

Each year during the Spring Solstice the Chief would hold a banquet in her

honor and allow suitors to vie for her hand. And each year the great

warrior suitors would leave the banquet disappointed and confounded. For

the task which the Chief put them to was an impossible task. How does one

eat an Elephant?

Great warriors from across the land again gathered during the spring

solstice. The enormous pile of roast elephant sat all but ignored in favor

of more exotic delicacies as all the warriors had given up on the Chief’s

challenge many moons ago.

As the night wore on the Chief noticed that a young warrior had seated

himself next to the enormous pile of roast Elephant and was taking steady

determined bites. The dancing started, and still the young warrior ate. The

old men and women returned to their huts and still the young warrior ate.

The moon crossed the night sky and still the young warrior ate.

The next morning the Chief saw that the young warrior still sat at his

post, eating determinedly. Even though the young warrior had eaten through

night the pile of roast Elephant looked unchanged in size.

The aftermath of the banquet was cleared during the day and still the

young warrior continued eating. The Chief ordered that the roast Elephant

be left for the young warrior.

The young warrior ate through the day and the second night.

The next morning the Chief called for all of his villagers to gather around

the roast. “My good villagers, I have an announcement”, said the Chief in a

deep and resonate voice. “Today my daughter marries!”

The crowd hushed. “But no one ate the Elephant”, yelled one brave and

slightly intoxicated villager.

The Chief, with a sly smile upon his face, turned and pointed to the young

warrior who was still diligently attacking the roast. “Stand young warrior

and tell me: how do you eat an Elephant?”

The young warrior stood. His stomach visibly engorged. He took a deep

breath and then said in a proud and calm voice, “Chief, one bite at a

time.”

“My dear villagers, I never cared whether my daughter’s suitor could eat an

entire Elephant. I was looking for a special warrior who had the grit and

determination to tackle any problem, no matter the size. I wanted a warrior

who would never quit once he set his heart upon a goal. And today I have

found that warrior”, said the Chief.

——————————————————————————————–

I wrote this story to help illustrate for you one of life’s most important

lessons. Every task, large or small, must be tackled one bite at a time.

And with that attitude nothing in life is impossible.

Think about your health goal. Is it daunting to imagine all of the workouts

and nutrition changes you’ll have to make over your lifetime to reach your

ideal body? But what if you stopped focusing on the total task and instead

look at the very next bite. What is the one thing you must do today that

will bring you one step closer to your end goal? How difficult is it to go

to the gym ONCE? How difficult is it to eat well, ONCE?

We can only ever do one thing at a time. Remember that. And then let the

stress of all future events slide off of your shoulders. We will all reach

our goals, one bite at a time.

Take care and have a wonderful day,

Jack

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