You Don't HAVE to Like It, Just Eat It!

I NEVER wanted to finish what was on my plate as a child and would be forced to spend what felt like hours at the dinner table staring at my plate. Even if I liked what was on the table, I just didn't want to eat it all. The rule was, you had to, "clean your plate." I would sit there and just pray that it would *poof* disappear, but it never happened. Over and over again I would hear this: “You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it.”

This is a basic principle I feel all children need to learn because they’re going to need it when they’re adults, and if they don’t learn it, they won’t really become adults.

Life is full of duties, and a duty is something we have to do whether we like it or not. Duty is something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation i.e., the respectful and obedient conduct due a parent, spouse, superior, elder, etc.

So, for example, a child is not required to like his beets, but he is required to eat it if that is what his parent told him to do. The parent is in a position of authority and sees what is good for the child regarding the nutrition of beets; the child, not appreciating this truth, complains, “I don’t like beets.” The parent in turn responds, “You don’t have to like it, you just have eat it.” When the child eats it he does his duty, obeying his parent. He also reaps the nutritional benefits. Perhaps, later, he will also come to like beets. For the record, I HATE do not enjoy beets.

A person who has learned to do their duty, and not simply to follow the impulses of their likes and dislikes, has not only learned to see beyond the moment, they have learned to trust God who has given authority to others over them. A person who cannot submit to others cannot submit to God. Like a child, their short-sighted desires dictate their behavior. Moreover, like spoiled and indulged children, these “grown-ups” are no fun to be around.