In the well-stocked cafeteria where I work, we’re never short on snacks. My house, on the other hand, is a different story, so I tend to arrive at work stomach rumbling, scavenging for a semblance of a breakfast. Conveniently, cereal is a mainstay in our rotating snack dispensers, making this a relatively easy choice for my otherwise empty belly.
Thus, imagine my excitement when a childhood favorite of mine, Alpha-Bits, appeared one day in the magical snack machines. I (probably way too) enthusiastically got a bowl and dispensed away. The breakfast crisis was averted for yet another day, and the childhood nostalgia factor was an additional bonus.
A few days later, I was faced with a conundrum, a cereal conundrum: the worst of its kind. I arrived at work in my perpetually hungry state, glanced around the cafeteria, and noticed a new cereal in the snack dispenser. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a second of my favorite cereals loaded in the dispenser beside the Alpha-Bits. Well, now my easy breakfast choice was a difficult one throwing an unanticipated conflict into my morning. I had a huge decision to make. And I couldn’t make it on my own.
I approached our resident snack selector extraordinaire (among many, many other things), The Rhythm of Reman, and chastised her for making me decide between the two. Certainly no one would hesitate to use the word indecisive to describe me. She offered her assistance, and asked me what I was deciding between so she could simply pick for me.
We went to the scene of the snacks, and I explained my difficulty in deciding between the newly stocked Reese’s Puffs, or my aforementioned childhood favorite, Alpha-Bits. She looked at me incredulously, then matter-of-factly stated that the cereal I had been eating, and believed to be Alpha-Bits this whole time, was in fact Lucky Charms. It was my turn to look incredulous, and I stood my ground. “I have never eaten Lucky Charms in my entire life,” I argued. After we quibbled for a bit more, she won fair and square by presenting the box of Lucky Charms with which she had filled the dispenser.
I had been so confident in my conviction that I had been eating Alpha-Bits all along that I was legitimately taken aback when I was shown to be wrong. It took a minute for me to reconcile this in my head and move forward with my day.
But since this happened in the morning, it carried a theme throughout the whole day. What other times have I misjudged a situation? When else have I been wrong about something or someone I was previously so sure of? Maybe I’ve had to make a call to a customer I’d previously had an unpleasant experience with, which in turn colored my opinion of them and then gone into that call with a less than stellar attitude.
I’d have never guessed it, but somehow cereal made me realize that sometimes you need to be flexible and reset your expectations.
Confidence is important. Having confidence in your convictions is maybe more important. Equally, if not most, important? The ability to remain flexible and adjust your expectations when what you thought you were positively certain of is flipped on your head.
 

A bowl of cereal is an easy way to start the day, but if you ask The Reman Runner, the implications stick with you past lunch. Experienced your own breakfast dilemma? Comment below or reach out to Rani directly.