The Enjoyment of the Competition
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By: Miss Madeline Bejanian
Featured in Issue #3 of World Success Magazine
It was a spaghetti eating competition. At the age of five, I sat properly in my chair, looked across and witnessed my competitor my two-year-old brother sitting in his high-chair.
The spaghetti was served. My brother rapidly went in clawing at the noodles with his bare hands, whereas I elegantly held my fork, placed it in the spaghetti, spun it carefully, and ensured that each strand was secure before putting the fork in my mouth.
Without obligation to rush, I took a break in between each bite to look out the window and observe the squirrels leaping across electricity poles, to hear mom’s conversation on the phone, and to fully savor the richness of the tomato sauce.
Thirty minutes later, mom checked in on us. She became impressed when she saw my brother’s empty dish. As I slowly slurped my strand of spaghetti, she saw my half-full plate, saying, “Wow, Madeline’s still enjoying it!”.
Reflecting back on this moment of my childhood, and precisely my eating method, I now understand myself on a deeper level: I operate by enjoying the process of life. Instead of focusing on the end result, and rushing to get there, I pace myself while taking in the present moment.
What makes me stand out is my capability to embrace the “now” while fulfilling the task at hand. With this natural tendency, I treasure each ordinary moment and internally transform each to become extraordinary. Therefore, my ride in life becomes an enjoyable exploration, one during which reality is a fuller experience, and one where the moonlight beams brighter and spaghetti sauce tastes sweeter.
As twenty-first century human beings, we are often programmed to focus on our final outcomes. The flaw of this approach is we end up thinking about the future (unknown) without fully recognizing what is happening now (the known).
My perspective on existence allows me to make the most of each second and, along the way, come to terms with what unfolds.
-Miss Madeline Bejanian
“Miss Madeline’s Message” is published in World Success Magazine
Featured in Issue #3 July 2017
Download a copy of Issue #3 here
