I want to tell you a story about something overrated.
I have a friend called Jessie. Jessie loves sweet things, particularly croissants. She’s an expert on the topic: “you have to get chocolate ones at this store,” she’ll tell me, “because it’s actually real chocolate, not cocoa and icing sugar.” Or, you need to go to this shop at 6am because that’s when their croissants have just been made and they taste the best.
Many a Saturday morning, seated in a coffee shop with the buzz of hungry people and moving waitresses filling the atmosphere, we have sat for hours eating croissants. Jessie savours hers. I eat mine far too quickly, I must confess.
Jessie’s next love, not quite a croissant but rather like that top you wear with everything instead of the one you reserve for special occasions, are doughnuts. For Jessie a doughnut is like an apple. You’re allowed to eat one anytime of the day. Sometimes I visit her at work and find a bag of half a doughnut on her desk from breakfast.
The other day Jessie came up to me, her eyes alight: “I think life as we know it is over!” She said.
“Yeah? Really?” I was sceptical.
“There’s this new thing on the market, it’s called a cronut and it’s a doughnut mixed with a croissant.”
How someone managed to get this combination to work is beyond my cooking and scientific knowledge, but nonetheless as Jessie said, someone somewhere had created a cronut and it was the latest thing.
The next opportunity Jessie and I had free we headed to the cronut bakery. Anyone watching us would have thought Jessie was about to get a promotion or a free trip to Disney land. She was euphoric.
We sat in the bakery watching its interesting patrons philosophise behind their tall lattes or solve the world’s problems from behind the screen of their laptops. Eventually, our cornets arrived. 2 cronuts, 2 coffees and 2 white plates.
I picked mine up and turned it over. I grinned at my friend, yum, I took my first bite. It was good. But… nothing amazing. I looked at Jessie who had taken her first tentative bite. She sighed, disappointment etched across her oval eyes, “it’s overrated.”
Sad, right? This story got me thinking about how often in life things are overrated and how often we go with what the crowd says because of the hype?
Sitting in a coffee shop (without a cronut this time) I made a list of some of the things I think we overrate and their counterpart which is, sadly, underrated.
1. Overrated: Being busy.
Underrated: Doing less, but doing it well.
2. Overrated: Joining the crowd.
Underrated: Standing apart because you believe in something.
3. Overrated: Unrestricted freedom.
Underrated: Boundaries and constraints which guide your life and help lead you towards good decisions.
4. Overrated: Owning lots of stuff.
Underrated: Owning what you need, living light and having quality relationships.
5. Overrated: Abusing your body with drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.
Underrated: Knowing when to say No, and looking after your body and your health.
6. Overrated: Idolising famous people.
Underrated: Being humble and honouring people in your life- like your parents or your boss at work.
7. Overrated: Gossiping about someone so you fit into a group.
Underrated: Encouragement and refusing to get drawn into situations which aren’t your business.
8. Overrated: Focusing on winning.
Underrated: Focusing on improving and being the best you can be without comparing.
9. Overrated: Spending all your time partying or shopping.
Underrated: Taking time to volunteer or attend a church.
10. Overrated: Having lots of boys or girls interested in you.
Underrated: Finding the right person to invest in and commit to.
My list made me realize when you focus on the wrong things your life goes in the wrong direction.
How sad would it be if you got it all wrong and lived a life focused on all the things that are overrated? In life we have to make smart decisions for the long term and avoid becoming swayed by the next cool thing, cronut or not! The best example of someone to mould your life on is Jesus. In the Bible, Jesus sets an example for us on how to live a satisfied life. Give his story a look.