Reasons why you should be like salt
“Always have a unique character like salt. Its presence is not felt, but its absence makes everything tasteless.” I first heard the profound statement a few months ago. The man who said this dropped an understanding of what it means to become more like salt. This piece was inspired by the teachings of Jay Setty, who was also taught by his teacher Radhanath Swami. The characteristics of salt help to provide key insights into how we ought to view ourselves and others.
Both Radhanath Swami and Jay Shetty have the teachings to awaken millions of people around the world spiritually. He shared this amazing lesson he learned while he was a monk and applied them to similar situations and principles that drive happiness, meaning, and success in life. Meanwhile, the benefits of being similar to salt are quite apparent in business, everyday life, and leadership.
The popular phrase “salt of the earth” means that somebody is well known for adding meaning to people’s lives and reliability. These are guys of high worth. By being more like salt, you (reading this piece) can also improve your worth, up to your reliability, thus, becoming the salt of the earth.
- Salt is always the first to take the blame
To salt, no salt, or a lot of It can make your food inedible. It can turn a perfectly prepared meal into a bland, preventing you from eating. However, whenever any of these happen, salt is always there to take the blame. Salt owns up to its mistake, and it has a grand sense of responsibility.
More often than not, I tend to see sports managers during press conferences reciting, “I take responsibility for this terrible situation, and I know I’ve got to do better.” It consciously creates a culture and system of accountability, especially when the example comes from the top down.
- Salt never blows its own horn.
You’ll never catch salt tooting its own horn. Have you ever heard anybody rejoice about how their meal has the perfect quantity of salt? We all love it when the right proportion of salt is added to a meal. It hides in the background, and it doesn’t need the credit even when it does a perfect job in the meal. However, this is not to say that speaking highly about yourself is unwarranted – if you’re too modest of yourself,
- Saltworks in moderation
Moderation, they say, is best in all things. Everything is better when it’s just right. It can be further explained via research. A study carried out at Princeton University suggests that almost everything is best in moderation, except for a few things. An ideal way to go about our own lives is to leave room for gray areas – we need to recognize that the world is not black and white, and recognizing the gray area is where the application of wisdom is needed. So, always have a unique character like SALT, its presence is not felt, but its absence makes everything tasteless.
