Plates
Over the years, I have heard several analogies about plates. Spinning, filling, breaking, tossing, displaying, and more. The past few days I have been thinking about those analogies and trying to figure out how they apply to my life.
Elder Bednar shared an incredible story about plates and life. He related life and the activities there of to a carnival act that requires one to spin the plates on a stick. The individual starts with one plate and a stick. They spin the plate and balance it on the end of a stick. Once they have it going well, they grab another plate and another stick. The start it spinning and move to another. This pattern continues. As an observer, it is amazing. We admire the talent of such an individual. It is amazing to see how many plates they can spin and balance.
I have been thinking about that analogy a great deal. I to am amazed at how other are able to spin and balance plates. However, the more I think about it and compare myself to that individual, putting myself down because I am not able to spin or even balance plates, I realize that this individual did not just decide one day to spin plates, grab 10 or more stick and start spinning. This individual had to start with one plate. They could not move on to two plates until they had mastered one. And even after they were able to get two plates spinning, they had to constantly go back to the first, giving it the proper attention to keep it spinning.
I wonder how many plates were shattered while practicing. Often times we don't think about those shattered plates, we only look at the end result and compare ourselves to that. Don't get me wrong, I think it is good to set goals, but we need to remember to sent obtainable goals. We need to focus on the one and master it before we move on to another.
We also need to remember, no matter how good this individual is at spinning plates, they do have limits. Pretty soon they will have so many plates spinning that they will not be able to proper attention to those plates that are starting to wobble. If not addressed, they will shatter. The talent is not at how many plates one can keep up, but that they can spin plates and know when they have reached their limit. Do you know your limits?
I wonder if I am trying to spin too many plates. Sometimes I wonder if I cleaned off the plates before I started spinning them. Then there are times I wonder if I need to change the size of my plates. Maybe I need to focus more on those that I am currently spinning.
When I think of watching the talented individual spin his/her plates, I often wonder if they ever take the time to step back and admire their own work, not boast, but admire. I wonder if they ever take the time to find the joy and amazement they first experience when they saw someone else spinning plates. I wonder if they are able to re-energize themselves to keep spinning as they watch those plates spin or do they get so caught up on keeping the plates spinning that they are not able to find the joy that inspired them in the first place.
Think about it. Are your plates clean? Are you trying to spin too much? Is it more important to add more plates or find joy in the spinning of the plates? It is not the number of plates we spin, but that we learn from the spinning of one.
Elder Bednar shared an incredible story about plates and life. He related life and the activities there of to a carnival act that requires one to spin the plates on a stick. The individual starts with one plate and a stick. They spin the plate and balance it on the end of a stick. Once they have it going well, they grab another plate and another stick. The start it spinning and move to another. This pattern continues. As an observer, it is amazing. We admire the talent of such an individual. It is amazing to see how many plates they can spin and balance.
I have been thinking about that analogy a great deal. I to am amazed at how other are able to spin and balance plates. However, the more I think about it and compare myself to that individual, putting myself down because I am not able to spin or even balance plates, I realize that this individual did not just decide one day to spin plates, grab 10 or more stick and start spinning. This individual had to start with one plate. They could not move on to two plates until they had mastered one. And even after they were able to get two plates spinning, they had to constantly go back to the first, giving it the proper attention to keep it spinning.
I wonder how many plates were shattered while practicing. Often times we don't think about those shattered plates, we only look at the end result and compare ourselves to that. Don't get me wrong, I think it is good to set goals, but we need to remember to sent obtainable goals. We need to focus on the one and master it before we move on to another.
We also need to remember, no matter how good this individual is at spinning plates, they do have limits. Pretty soon they will have so many plates spinning that they will not be able to proper attention to those plates that are starting to wobble. If not addressed, they will shatter. The talent is not at how many plates one can keep up, but that they can spin plates and know when they have reached their limit. Do you know your limits?
I wonder if I am trying to spin too many plates. Sometimes I wonder if I cleaned off the plates before I started spinning them. Then there are times I wonder if I need to change the size of my plates. Maybe I need to focus more on those that I am currently spinning.
When I think of watching the talented individual spin his/her plates, I often wonder if they ever take the time to step back and admire their own work, not boast, but admire. I wonder if they ever take the time to find the joy and amazement they first experience when they saw someone else spinning plates. I wonder if they are able to re-energize themselves to keep spinning as they watch those plates spin or do they get so caught up on keeping the plates spinning that they are not able to find the joy that inspired them in the first place.
Think about it. Are your plates clean? Are you trying to spin too much? Is it more important to add more plates or find joy in the spinning of the plates? It is not the number of plates we spin, but that we learn from the spinning of one.
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