Always room for matcha cake

Dedicate space to what's important

My wife had eaten about three-quarters of her lunch when she put her cutlery down and declared “I’m full”. Left on the plate was some carrot and broccoli.

Three minutes later, looking at the café counter, her eyes opened wide as she exclaimed “Look! Matcha cake! Let’s have some!”.

Standing 4 inches tall, made of 4 layers each divided by matcha-cream, and covered in matcha-icing, it looked delicious. Cake was ordered.

So much for “full”, but she is partial to cake.

Two minutes later, the waiter placed a large slice of matcha cake in front of my smiling, happy wife (bringing with it, at least for that time being, a happy life).

15 minutes later we left the café, she was now really full (with cake) and delighted to have some left to take home to eat later.

Regardless of how full she claims to be, she can always find room for cake.

In life, we often go around saying how busy we are. Busy, busy, busy. So busy. Then something new and interesting comes along. An opportunity too good to pass by. Somehow, we find room for it.

Busy is often a façade for avoiding things we should be doing. Including important things we put off, such as seeing people we care about yet can’t ‘find the time’ for.

The question then pertains, if you can find room for ‘cake’ doesn’t it mean you had time all along?

At the very best, you made a choice to reprioritise. If you’ve got your priorities right and you’re truly too busy to fit more in, then something legitimately gives way to the new thing. That’s fine, but I think that’s rarely how things are.

The more likely story: getting so caught up in day-to-day life, fascinating over things that don’t truly matter. What’s more, we’ll make room for exciting new things (“cake”), at the expense of important things (“vegetables”).

The thing is, it’s OK to squeeze more in, even when you’re already ‘too busy’. So long as you maintain balance and continue dedicating enough space to the important things. I won’t spell them out, you know what the important things to you are.

Plus, let’s not forget cake helps you feel good and that’s important too. So, it’s worthwhile trying to find room for cake! Just sometimes, you must wait a bit and enjoy it later.

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