Hi Guys,
A member of RRW, Leslie Sprankling, asked me to post this story. I think you will enjoy it ...
The Lesson of the Hole in the Doughnut
© 2011 Leslie H Sprankling
When I was just 18 years old, I was in military service and based about 70 minutes drive from Melbourne, Australia. I often spent the weekend in Melbourne, visiting my girlfriend, and one of the very few places I could find open for breakfast on Sundays was a donut and coffee shop. They made good coffee and donuts so I ate breakfast there often.
With no Sunday paper to read, I often read the message painted on the shop wall, above the booths. It stuck in my mind over the years and I repeat it here today:
As you go through life, my friend,
whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the doughnut,
and not upon the hole.
I believe it originally came from an old Irish toast but I can’t verify that.
Why do you think this old rhyme has stuck in my mind for so many years?
Donuts come in two basic shapes the - solid jam donut with a squirt of hot strawberry or raspberry jam inside - and the one with the hole in the middle. It’s the one with the hole in the middle that is the subject of this article today.
Well, what’s so important about a donut with a hole in the middle, millions of which are eaten every morning in the USA?
In the stream of life, a donut doesn’t seem to have much importance, 3-4 bites, 2 swigs of coffee and it’s gone. But the old rhyme brings out a principle that every single person needs to be aware of.
Kids tend to fight over a box of donuts all wanting the one with the smallest hole. Why?
Because their thinking is that the donut with smallest hole is the biggest donut, and that’s the one they all want. That may be true some of the time, but not all the time.
So, their focus should be on the donut; how thick it is, its circumference and its weight. They are the aspects of a donut which truly show which is the biggest donut.
The hole is nothing but space, you can only see the hole by seeing the donut.
Think about that. There is a fundamental principle in that short statement.
So the lesson here is to focus on the donut, that is what matters – the rest is just formless space. The donut contains the taste, the substance, the sweetness and the nutrition – what’s in the middle is just nothing.
In life, we all need to keep our eye on the donut, the substance, the tangible things that really matter – the things that can, and will, make a difference to you and to others. Since I first read that rhyme on the donut shop wall I have travelled by road through 26 of the United States of America and not once have I see that rhyme on a donut shop wall.
If any donut store managers are reading this, how about putting it up in your store. It contains a fundamental lesson in life.
I have always tried to focus my eye on the donut, the things that really matter. Take a small bite from the donut:
A relationship is far more important than the temporary hurt feelings
of one person. An apology, even if you are not the one in the wrong, will
get the eye back on the donut.
When you start to make a donut you need to mix up the ingredients. In a recipe I have for donuts, there are 8 ingredients. None of these ingredients on their own will make donuts and few of them individually can make a tasty dish. But together they make up one of America’s favourite breakfast items.
In the donut of life there are also many ingredients and we need to include them all in our lives and keep them all in balance.
In business an entrepreneur needs to work on his donut recipe and keep an eye on the mix to make sure he has the perfect business donut.
To successfully do long-term business together with another person there must be a mix of quality ingredients - the recipe for the business donut. Trust, Loyalty, Respect, Mutual Liking, Reliability, Confidence, Exemplary Service are all in the basic recipe. There may be others you might wish to add.
You’ll notice I left Price out of the recipe. When all the other ingredients are there, hardly anyone will notice the Price.
Put all your ingredients together in a balanced recipe in your business then keep your eye on the donut and forget about the hole.
As you go through life, my friend,
whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the doughnut,
and not upon the hole.
Topic: Hole in the Doughnut (Read 6144 times)