Finger food, or fine dining?

So how important is making progress? I mean, progress is good, right? Why wouldn’t we want to continually strive to be improved versions of ourselves? 

Yet sometimes we get caught in a cycle of focusing on what could be even better than what’s amazing right now. We may even miss what’s good by focusing on what could be better. And what stinks about that is, it can leave us with an unfulfilled sense of wanting, when all along what we already have is actually pretty darn amazing. 

When a child picks up a tiny piece of food and feeds themselves for the first time, do we celebrate and coo and clap and praise effusively, or do we move right into the longing for when they’ll finally use a knife and fork?

We celebrate! We celebrate all the struggles, the finger fumbles, the mouth misses, the copious amounts of food on faces and the floor. We find unspeakable joy in the milestone they’re reaching. And we continue to find joy in how the learning unfolds. 

If you’re walking a spiritual path, you too are learning. Spiritually speaking, some seekers are cutting with a knife and fork while others are making a mess with their fingers, smearing food into their bibs and hair. Using utensils may certainly allow seekers to metaphorically eat fine foods in fine restaurants under celebrated chefs. The experiences may be nuanced, subtle, refined, “mature,” and come about through education, tutelage, mentorship or self-guided learning.

But do you really want to rush it?

What about tossing your sippy cup, dropping your tiny cut up vegetables on the floor, and developing the fine motor skills to pinch your fingers together and grasp small pieces of food? Isn’t there incredible satisfaction in that part of the journey as well?

Every step along a spiritual “path” has merit - even those times when we are not taking any steps at all, or feel as if we’ve actually moved backward. Perhaps the real learning comes from finding the joy and celebrating where we are while we’re there? Fine dining is an incredible experience, and so too is picking up a sticky piece of food with your hands.