I heard about this young couple that had recently gotten married. And the man noticed that every time his wife cooked the ham she cut the ends off of the ham. He thought that was kind of strange and wondered why she would waste the ham like that.

And one day while his wife was making the ham, he got his nerve up and said, “honey why do you cut the ends off of the ham?” She got kind of defensive and said, “Well, my mother made the best ham in the world and she always cut the ends off the ham.”

He said, “Well that’s fine… but do you know why she did it?” She said, “I have no idea.” He said “well can we call your mother?” She said, “sure!”

So they called her mother and he explained, “my wife’s cutting the ends of the ham off and she says she does it because you always did it. Can you tell me why you cut the ends of the ham off?”

And her mother got kind of defensive. She said, “well my mother made the best hams in all the world and she always cut the ends of her ham off.” He said, “Well that’s fine… but do you know why she did it?” She said, “I have no idea.” He said, “well can we call grandmother?” She said, “sure!”

So they called the grandmother and he explained that, “my wife cuts the ends of the ham off. She said she does it because your daughter did it – and your daughter said she does it because you do it -  Grand-momma can you tell us why you cut the ends of your ham off?” She said, “Yeah, that’s easy – because my pan is too small.”

Are you stuck in a rut? Falling prey to tradition? Doing things because that’s the way it’s always been done?

Today, I dare you to think out of the box. Just because something has been passed down from generation to generation doesn’t mean that’s the way it has to be.

You can be the one to break tradition. Maybe you’ll be the first in your family to get a doctorate degree. You might be the first to own a lucrative business.

Whatever it is that’s holding you back, break that tradition today. Don’t be enslaved to your past. Get a bigger pan. Get a bigger vision. Stop “cutting the ends off the ham” just because that’s the way it’s always been done. Remove the limitations today as you step into a new dimension in life!

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Photo credit: animakitty

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