Jack and the carcass story - Creating a ceiling - minimum and maximums
Tragic of Jack - the Crow and the carcass story
Once upon a time there was a crow. Who happened to be starving from the previous day, it was searching for food from early morning. And on its way saw an elephant's carcass, floating on the river. Half eaten by animals, yet plenty of meat left, the crow landed on the carcass and started eating it. Soon there were other crows. They all were having a nice breakfast feast. However, the Elephant was so huge, that there was enough meat for everyone. When the other crows left, the first one still stayed. Let's call him Jack. Now, Jack, the crow felt a little greedy. Why should I go anywhere else? It is safe to be on the carcass, floating on the river, I do not have to go looking for a lunch. I can have lunch here itself. So, it did. Without leaving the carcass, it had lunch, a dinner and even a little bit of nap at night. Following morning, all his friends returned, and Jack was feeling proud about himself. Like he has found a good Niche, if he was a blogger! So, he boasted about how nice it was to be on the carcass, overnight and all his friends nodded in agreement without confronting him, like all friends do. Now reassured by his colleagues the crow had a new identity. Jack was now not just Jack, he was "Smart a** Jack living on the Elephant carcass". And you can guess the rest of the story.
After few days of new success in a row, obvious happened. The elephant carcass slowly drifted into the sea. Still some crows came for a visit, land was visible on a distance. Jack had plenty of time to save himself from his impending doom. But, Jack was fond of his new identity that he stayed. Until land was not visible, and the elephant carcass slowly begin to sink in the sea water. By this time Jack was heavy, sad and depressed. He could not fly far away back to the land and ended up dead, collapsing halfway to the beach.
That, concludes the Jack and carcass story.
Take home message
There are plenty of messages in the story, such as, listen to your friends carefully, they might mean no harm but, their opinions are subjective too. And the one who confronts is not always the enemy as, that is the way the world responds.
How about not being greedy with your identity as it is always dynamic. Your identity changes with your age, your friends, things you eat, like in the case of Jack. Good times will never last every day, and better be prepared and foresee rainy days, so you're absolutely ready when the luck runs out.
But, the one I want to emphasize is about "Create a ceiling to your habits". Do not try to eat your carcass, day in and day out neglecting everything else in your life. It could be your work, your relationship, your mental health, your blog, that you're working on. Just know the carcass is going to sink with or without your help one day. So, holding onto them tight will definitely is not a wise choice. I am not asking you to take a bite when it is floating. Just define where you will stop. Otherwise, thing you thought was a fun thing to do eventually will consume you.
In practice you can chose a stop condition to everything you do. You stop at 1000 dollars in your monthly spending, you stop at 500 words in your daily writing, you stop at 1 hour Netflix even on a holiday, you stop exercise at 30 minutes even if you feel like doing more. Just like minimums that you do on a bad day, maximums will help you balance and discipline and not to get attached too much with your daily carcasses like Jack did. Let's remember Jack everyday with gratitude.
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