# Quit while you're ahead — count the clean plates

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Joke
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-joke-quit-while-ahead-dishes
- Themes: humour, perfectionism, procrastination, death
- Life situations: needing a laugh, housework overwhelm

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Before washing up, count clean plates versus dirty ones; if clean outnumber dirty, quit while you're ahead. Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow — you might die tonight.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

Before if you go home this evening, before you go to wash the dishes, have a look at how many clean plates and sauces you have, you know, in the drawers or in the shelves. Have a look at how many dirty dishes you have. Count them. Compare them. And if the number of clean dishes outnumber the dirty dishes, then quit while you're ahead. Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow because you might die tonight

## Teaching point

(Joke against perfectionism and overwork.)

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

Before washing up, Ajahn Brahm jokes, count your plates: if clean ones outnumber dirty ones, quit while you're ahead. Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow; you might die tonight. Behind the joke is gentleness. Often what holds us back isn't laziness but perfectionism. Let things be good enough.

## Source

- [Why? Is an Important Question to Ask | Ajahn Brahm | 1 January 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3v0vceM7-0) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 54:52 to 55:27: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3v0vceM7-0&t=3292s