Image Credit: Squirrel_photos
I sometimes wonder how ‘long’ items have been sitting on a grocery store shelf before they decide it’s time to put them on sale. So here’s the deal. I often purchase things like apple sauce and buy a few jars, especially when they are on sale. I am reluctant, however, to do that anymore if I am not planning on consuming it shortly after I buy it. Now, this non-perishable item shouldn’t spoil in the refrigerator after opening but about a little over a week later when I went to scoop out the last servings in the jar, I noticed it looked strange. The top was securely on, but the contents had darkened quite a bit. How could this be?
When I opened it up it did not have mold in it, but it just didn’t look right. So I checked the expiration date on the container, but there was none. Huh? What I saw on the label, written in a 0.1 font was, “Best results when used within 7 days after opening.” Okay, so this was around the 9th day after opening the jar, but how did I not notice this before? Could it be that I ate it quicker than I did this time? So, are they saying that after 7 days of opening the jar, I will get mediocre results? Uh, yeah. Or would what’s left in the jar morph into some science experiment? Hmmmm, quite possibly. But this got me thinking about myself and whether or not there is an expiration date on my purpose, talents, and gifts if I simply store them on the ‘shelf’ of no return.
I admit there are times, and sometimes many, when I begin projects I am passionate about and I somehow manage to keep these unfinished projects in my open pile of procrastination. As they say, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” But my apple sauce debacle made me think about completing anything that I feel is meaningful before I am unable to do anything at all to exude its usefulness and purpose.
I cannot allow my purpose to wane unpurposefully, especially when I know better and can do better! I refuse to take up shelf space when I must make room for others. I cannot allow my shelf life to expire when I don’t have to. Have you been shelving something that if you don’t do something with it soon, it may expire on you, becoming a wasted opportunity?

Image Credit: Joshua Rawson-Harris
Source: Shelf Life | From Behind the Pen
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