The Panera Dilemma

Posted by hughrandle@gmail.com on February 14, 2014 at 8:05 PM

originally written May 24, 2007 Every morning when I get coffee at the Panera Bread here at Rivertown Crossings, I am confronted with a choice. Bright and Balanced or Dark and Vibrant. These are two of the four coffee choices available at Panera. But it struck me the other day that it is more than a coffee choice. It is an attitude choice. A lifestyle choice, a God choice. For many years, I admired other guys who were dark and vibrant. They always seemed to get the girl. That Bad Boy dark side mixed with a vibrant sense of adventure. This is what I wanted to be, I decided. Except for one thing- it isn’t real. These men have the same self-doubt, the same insecurity that I have suffered from. Now, I could go Bright and Balanced. After all, I rationalized I’m bright and doesn’t everyone tell you to seek balance in your life? You balance work and play, balance your saving and spending, balance, balance, balance. So what do I do with this choice? Dark and Vibrant or Bright and Balanced? Well, with the coffee, it is pretty easy, I alternate. I like both the medium roast (Bright and Balanced) and the dark roast ( Dark and Vibrant). But in the bigger picture? I ask God. God, what do you want me to be? And He answers. Dark doesn’t have to be evil, sometimes it is the boldness that brings someone to Christ, your vibrancy that someone wants to emulate. And Bright and balanced doesn’t have to be ordered and boring. Sometimes it is your light that people see and want to have in their life. Sometimes it is your balance, which doesn’t allow you to get frazzled when others do that people admire. Dark and Vibrant or Bright and Balanced? Yes please a lifeful of both!