Right before Boze was born, Katelyn and I decided to watch a show called “The Bear.”
Wildly popular. Saw billboards all over New York for it. We just jumped on the wagon late.
If you haven’t seen it, here’s a short run down:
Carmy (Carmen) is a famous world renowned chef. His brother dies and he has to take over his brother’s restaurant in Chicago while dealing with his own trauma over the death of his brother, a terrible relationship with his parents, and learning who he is.
The restaurant has staff that are made up of family, friends, and people his brother helped along the way. When Carmy introduces practices that helped him become successful, the staff just jaw at him and turn up their noses.
Carmy stays consistent with his habits and slowly throughout the season the staff begin to see what things like keeping knives sharp and a clean work station not only do for themselves, but the people they have loved helping all these years.
Everyone except his cousin Richie, who loves to help the people he loves, but resists change and doesn’t quite see what everyone else is starting to see in these habits from Carmy.
This brings us to the Season 2 Episode, “Forks.”
Carmy sends Richie to work at a 3 Michelin star restaurant in order to help Richie become the best front of house manager possible. Something Richie doesn’t see the point in and doesn’t believe could be good at (nor want to).
When he arrives at the restaurant, he is told that during his week there he will be washing forks. And that’s it.
He feels insulted by this but out of respect for his cousin, he just washes forks. Terribly and not to the standard of the restaurant, but he starts.
Days go buy and the person in charge of him says not good enough. Richie loses it. They go outside and chat. Richie asks why he has to clean forks all day when that won’t be his job. That’s when it’s revealed to Richie the ethos that makes this restaurant so successful:
They don’t do it because they want to be the best. They do it because they can’t get enough of the feeling of making someone else feel their best. When there’s a spot on the fork, they don’t feel special. Sure they won’t complain about it, but a spotless fork at dinner shows that you care and feeling cared for is one of the best things in the world.
Then Richie starts cleaning forks to the standard and then you get to witness one of the best mental head space slips of all time.
You’ll have to go see the rest for yourself if you haven’t.
Kidd…I could have looked this up. Why write it out and bring up this famous tv episode?
Because, we all go through this. We are all pushing and being pushed to be our best selves.
Often times we are told what to do and just do it because we feel we have to because of family or our doctors want us to.
The thing is, we all have Richie moments and know people going through them.
Your friends who think you’re weird for working out, just haven’t heard that thing that gives exercise meaning.
That athlete next to you who won’t lighten the load so they can learn to push their knees out, haven’t had that moment to understand why focusing on the form over the load is important.
And you, the person who doesn’t stretch after class, hasn’t had the chance to see what stretching daily can do for everything else in this journey that you have found importance in.
Often we get to wrapped up to learn. To humble ourselves to do the things that build understanding and help us grow.
Today, I challenge you to do 2 things:
1) Do that one thing your coach has been asking you to do a while.
2) Keep doing those things that have made you feel fulfilled.
Who knows, you may have your Richie moment and give someone else theirs today,
To talk with a coach today, click the link found HERE to schedule your No Sweat Intro