Prosciutto

Our eyes met from 25 yards away.

He knew I was too close to escape.

He knew I was going to ask.

He knew I was about to ruin his day…

Maybe even ruin his LIFE.

“1 lb. of prosciutto, please. Sliced thin”, I said.

He said no words.

He just groaned and kept his eyes locked on mine

As he reluctantly grabbed the dense meat slab from the immaculate deli case

And turned his back to me.

This show-down-goes-down every week at my grocery store.

Maybe it’s the carnivore in me, maybe it’s the Sicilian in me —

But I LOVE prosciutto.

The guy at my deli counter…

He HATES it —

Well… he hates slicing it for me.

See, slicing prosciutto takes a lot of time and effort.

(No shortcuts!)

It’s gotta be sliced ultra thin

And every 4 slices are meticulously laid on their own wax paper.

It’s a gentle art —

Not like the “hacking and stacking” of other subpar, nitrate-laden deli meat.

I digress.

Yesterday, I prepared myself for another conflict at the counter…

But my nemesis wasn’t there.

It was a new guy,

And when I asked him for the prosciutto,

He smiled and eagerly said, “Good choice. Be right up!”

WAIT, what?

I was so taken aback, I thought it was a trap!

(Was the old guy going to jump out and beat me down with a leg of prosciutto?)

I blurted, “Sorry, I know it takes forever to slice, I appreciate it!”

“Ah, don’t apologize, it gives me the chance to slow down, focus, and be present”, he replied.

WOAH — talk about wisdom from weird places…

Seriously, what a gem from this new guy!

Instead of viewing my ask as an obstacle,

He chose to view it as an opportunity.

That’s the power of prosciutto perception!

Most people perceive events in their lives as either a) GOOD or b) BAD.

Truth is, your life events don’t have assigned meanings —

You are in CONTROL and

You get to CHOOSE how

You FEEL about them.

So why doesn’t everybody just do this?

It’s hard!

(Good thing I know you’re up for hard things.)

Your split-second feeling about a life event is typically negative and disempowering,

But, with awareness and practice, you can change this.

This is your reminder…

It’s not who you are, what you have, where you are, or what you do that ultimately makes you happy —

It’s how you choose to feel about it all.

Don’t allow your happiness to be held hostage by life’s random events.

You’ve got options.

Do the hard thing.

Consistently choose your most empowering feeling,

And it’ll change your life!

Let’s slice through this week with power!

Joey

P.S. I appreciate you! Thanks for reading my letter. To express my gratitude, here’s a gift. Use code JOEY20 for 20% off ANYTHING today.