Life is Like a Trip to the Supermarket

Traveling your cart down the road of life truly is like making a trip to the market.

You have to maneuver your cart through the traffic of other people—their problems, phobias, opinions, fears, dreams, temperments…need I go on?

Since this is a blog about the life of a family of shopping carts, let me expound (for your enjoyment, hopefully) on how the Cartlin Carts are taught to play well with others.

Don’t Park Your Cart Sideways in an Aisle

Haven’t we all ran across that cart?

The one blocking our path down the aisle with their “my-issues-take-precedence-over-your-issues-so-pay-attention-to-my-needs-first” disposition.

Caring only about their circumstances, they are unable to see another cart’s perspective and how their actions block others from traveling down the aisle.

After all, their issues are very important and need your attention now!

Can you believe the nerve of those carts?!

Ahem…(cough)…Time to be Honest with Ourselves.

Haven’t we all been that cart once or twice (gulp…maybe even more times?), blocking someone else’s lane with our “my-issues-take-precedence-blah-blah-blah…” stuff?

Knowing this is a problem all carts face, Grampa took the time to teach Jack and the family that blocking someone’s way because we feel our needs are more important than theirs is an act of (yikes!) selfishness.

So stay in your own lane as much as possible, and when you need some help—ASK!

Remember—No one likes a selfish cart.

Keep Moving or Your Wheels Will Rust

It is perfectly alright for a cart to take its time shopping.

Go ahead—stroll down the aisles, look up and down, read labels, compare items. These are the actions that produce a healthy grown-up cart.

Making good choices, planning your route down the rows, saving the frozen items until the end to put in your basket is all part of learning life’s navigation process.

So enjoy it!

But Keep Your Wheels Moving

Stopping too long to examine a particular item will eat up valuable shopping minutes that you can’t get back.

Lingering over whether to buy the sprinkle-covered crawler or the double-dipped cookie is fine—for a few moments.

But the longer you stay parked in one spot, the harder the choice you face may get.

So if you’re not sure, keep moving.

But maybe it’s not a choice that has your cart stopped.

Maybe it’s a memory from the past that keeps your wheels stuck from moving forward, frozen in a moment you can’t get back.

All Carts Experience Rust in One Form or Another

Carts can feel frozen at times with the choices they face or have made in the past.

Don’t get stuck. Take action to remove the rust from your wheels.

Take a step back to move forward—look at the choice from a different viewpoint.

Or brainstorm options to find potential solutions—expand your thinking to find a new solution.

Moving forward to clear your mind, stepping back to see the bigger picture—these are actions that allow your cart to take a breathe.

Remember—carts get rusty when they don’t keep moving.

If You Overload Your Cart, You Can’t Move Smooth

All carts want to believe they can carry 30 watermelons, 15 cases of soda, AND the ever-popular bulk brand of toilet paper to the check-out line without breaking the carton of eggs that got added to the pile at the very last minute.

Easy peasy!

(Really?)

Overloading our shopping trip seems plausible at the time.

After all, it’s just adding twelve eggs!

And we don’t want other carts to think we are under-achievers—slackers who complain about tiny breakfast foods!

So we take on more and more into our cart until our capacity for more is gone, leaving us with broken wheels and bent-out-of-shape baskets.

 

STOP THE OVERLOAD!

Many carts live overloaded lives. As a result, their lives are no longer in good shape, and their health and relationships suffer.

This is no way for a cart to live!

Don’t fill up your cart to the capacity—leave room to breathe and experience the shopping trip.

Get rest, pray, and make time for quality relationships with other carts.

And never put 30 watermelons in your cart at one time! It won’t end well.

Resources

7 Strategies I’m Using To Become Less Selfish & More Selfless

10 Strategies to Keep Moving Forward When Feeling Stuck

Six Ways to Stop the Overload in Your Life Today