By Emmanuel Canto
I came across an article about letting go of the “lettuce” in our lives from a motivational speaker named Catherine Devyries. The “lettuce” story from the US-based Delta Air Lines is simple — we hold on to the things which are not meant for us. We carry excess baggage, thus our load becomes heavier. There are things in our lives that we don’t have to hold on to. The best thing to do is to let go.
The story explains why letting go the “lettuce” in life isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In 1993, one of the cabin crew members of Delta Air Lines suggested taking out the lettuce from the passengers’ entrees because he observed that “no one was eating it anyway.” The chefs of the airline reacted differently because they were not amenable to the idea, considering they were using the vegetable for a long time.
Why a sudden change?
“The menu is not impressive if we take lettuce out in our entrees,” the airline chefs said. However, the management was open and amenable to the suggestion.
The cabin crew was surprised because the passengers didn’t complain about the dish. No one bothered asking about the missing lettuce. It seems they didn’t notice what was missing. Simply put, they didn’t really care.
For a long time, the management of Delta Air Lines thought the lettuce was important but, to their surprise, it wasn’t for the customers. After one year without the lettuce, Delta Air Lines had savings worth $1.4 million. Yes, a stunning $1.4 million!
Our life is sometimes surrounded by lots of “lettuce” to let go. We keep on keeping and holding on to so many lettuces, thinking they’re all important, which we do not actually need. Our wants exceed our needs. “We want this, we want that because somebody else has.” “We try to become someone who we are not, we want to become like this person.”
We must bear in mind that God created us with a purpose, and only He can guide us. All we have to do is to trust him. There are lettuces in our lives which we think are making us feel better, but in reality they are nothing but a waste of time and effort. The reality is we can’t have everything in life. Sometimes we need to say no.
The time will come that we have to make a bold decision and a choice, and be committed to it. We must sacrifice things so that we can give way to more important ones. We really have to let go of the lettuce.
American business magnate, investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett, who is widely respected globally, said it best, “For every 100 opportunities presented to me, I decline to 99 of them and focus on one big thing that leads me to success.”
Letting go may be painful, but it can also be the only way to greatness. Remember, for every “no” that you say, you become empowered to say “yes” to something else. And that something else should be the one that matters most to you in life.
In all our undertaking, we must always remember to seek the guidance of our Creator no matter what. His will be done not ours. Most often than not, we can’t understand his will, but later on we realize that he has prepared better for us./WDJ