The Starving Baker

I like to visit a new bakery near from my office. The chief baker has created a new recipe for breads and pastries. They are all delicious. They are the best breads and pastries I have ever had. Soon, words about this shop spread all over the place. Crowds start forming lines each day, waiting for the new confections to come from this baker’s fabulous kitchen. The baker doesn’t have enough help, and ends up trying to serve all the customers himself. He is rushing back and forth, busy with all the orders of the customers but unaware to what’s happening to him. He becomes exhausted. What’s worse, as I watch him for a few weeks, I see a change. This man is getting thin. Very thin. It almost seems like he is weakening. What’s going on?

I decide to just sit down and observe for a few hours. Suddenly, the problem becomes very clear. This man never stops to eat. The irony is, he is busy serving bread to everyone else, but never stops long enough to feed himself. With food all around him, he is starving.

(Dr. Tim Elmore, 2004, Habitudes, Growing Leaders, Inc., USA)