We can all learn some important lessons from cereal

I was shopping in the grocery store the other day when I saw something that made me stop faster than the free sample booth.

I was minding my own business in the cereal aisle and thought it was just another ordinary day. Suddenly, though, everything changed when I discovered that the grocery store now has boxes of Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes. It’s all in one cereal!

“This is amazing,” I thought to myself. “The makers of these two tremendous cereals have gotten together in order to help all of humanity. If Frosted Flakes and Lucky Charms can work together, then maybe we can all learn an important lesson about cooperation and unity. I hope they notice this in Washington, D.C.”

After wiping away a few tears, I proudly bought the cereal, took it home and showed it to the family, expecting to be congratulated for another intelligent purchase.

They were whelmed, to say the least. Not over or under, just whelmed, because they were moderately impressed but didn’t know what to think.

“They combined it into one cereal?” one child asked.

“Will that be any good?” another questioned.

“Did you remember to buy milk?” my wife asked.

I responded that I thought it would be awesome, and then ignored the final question because I had, in fact, forgotten to purchase milk.

I was convinced that this cereal would be magical, so I took a sandwich bag full of it to work the next day. I have enjoyed snacking on Frosted Flakes at work before, as well as Lucky Charms, and I thought it would be nice to snack on them at the same time.

When I tried them the next day, though, I was certainly not overjoyed with the taste. In fact, I would say I was underjoyed.

While Frosted Flakes and Lucky Charms may be delicious by themselves, they just don’t seem to work well together. It’s like that with a lot of things in life; just because you love one item and another, that doesn’t mean you will enjoy them even more together.

For example, think of peanut butter and ranch dressing. Alone, they are great and they even make other foods better. If you combine them, though, it’s a disaster.

Or what about Transformers and the Knights of the Roundtable? They are two fun ideas, but together they made a terrible movie in 2017.

I thought a lot about cereal that day (it wasn’t my most productive day at work) and realized that we can learn a lot of important lessons from these breakfast and snack items.

For example, as Lucky Charms teaches us, it’s important to remember the unsung heroes in life who often make the stars look so amazing.

In the box of Lucky Charms, those unsung heroes are the boring pieces that aren’t marshmallows. No one really likes them, but if they aren’t there, suddenly the marshmallows don’t seem so special.

When I was eating my Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes, I actually missed those boring pieces, because the Frosted Flakes and marshmallows combination is just too sweet for me.

In the world outside of the cereal aisle, it’s the same way. You have stars and people who command attention in entertainment, at work and in other aspects of your day, but you also need the behind the scenes people who make the marshmallow people seem so special. Without those people, the marshmallow people aren’t so wonderful.

Here are a few more important lessons from cereal:

• You can’t judge a book by its cover – The cereal aisle has numerous types of raisin bran cereals that look alike, but it is crucial to remember that they are all very different. Humans are a lot like those cereals, as we are all basically just raisins and bran (I realize that “scientists” may dispute this). Somehow, though, the raisins and bran are blended differently for each of us. This coalescence between raisins and bran creates a unique synergy for each of us, and that is what makes each one of us special and also makes raisin bran so delicious.
• Teamwork matters – Each brand of Chex cereal is good, and I enjoy eating the different cereals. When you mix them together into a snack mix, though, it is a wonderful combination and a far superior product. We can do a lot more when work together, if only we can learn from Chex Mix.
• Nothing is worth getting too worked up over – Look at that poor Cocoa Puffs character, Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, who always goes crazy for Cocoa Puffs. It is a fine cereal, but there’s no reason to act like that. He needs to show a little decorum. His craziness rarely works out well, and he should remember that he could just go out and purchase more cereal. Sometimes, you need to learn from Sonny and just take life as it comes; don’t try to force things or to get too high or too low. I wish that instead of acting like Sonny, we could all instead just be cheery for Cheerios or feel content with Corn Flakes.
• The journey is more important than the destination – If you buy a box of cereal for the prize inside, you need to enjoy the cereal you are eating while you get to the prize. Often, the prize is disappointing. Whatever you are working toward in life, it’s critical to stop sometimes and enjoy everything around you in the moment. That moment and/or the cereal you are eating just might be better than the goal you are hoping to reach, even if it’s an awesome poster or a neat set of stickers.
• Life is good – The cereal is tremendous, and Life is even better with cinnamon.

Do you have any other important lessons you have learned from cereal? Feel free to add them below. Thanks!