The comic strip, Peanuts, has some excellent examples of the obstacles we all encounter. One of my favorite examples involves Lucy and her little brother, Linus, who is constantly hanging onto his security blanket.
In this particular cartoon, Linus is in the kitchen, eating a jelly sandwich. As he finishes the sandwich, for the first time in his life, he notices the hand that held the sandwich. He begins to admire the hand. Then, without realizing it, he drops his security blanket and admires the other hand. He begins to imagine that with these hands he could be anything: the CEO of a company, a great leader, a pro basketball player, a surgeon, a novelist – even the President!
Excited about his discovery and the potential his hands hold, he runs into the next room where Lucy is watching television and shouts, “Lucy! Lucy! Look at my hands!”
Lucy looks at his hands, then looks into his eyes and says, “They’ve got jelly on them.”
Now you may have people around you who seem to point out the jelly on your hands rather than seeing your real potential. Don’t be guilty of living up to other’s low expectations. I see people every day who have given up on their sunny dreams of fulfillment and success, settling into the twilight world of could-have-beens and regrets. What do you want the next 5 years to hold for you?
Need some encouragement to get past the “jelly” in your life? Click here for resources for moving forward.
Lovely story, Dan. There’s no getting past the human condition though. Down-players are packed 99 to the100. Even if Linus did become president Lucy would still say, “You’ve got jelly on your hands!”. Linus’ testing is his resistance to the jelly see-ers. Colin Pearce
Thank you for this powerful reminder Dan. One thing I have to watch out for – sometimes I’m the one pointing out the “jelly” to myself. It was great seeing you and Joanne at Podcast Movement!