LIFE. Mikey likes it! That was what we were told back in the 70’s and 80’s by one of the longest running TV ad campaigns ever…..and that was WELL before the CINNAMON flavor was an option! Both of Mikey’s brothers were PLEASANTLY surprised when their younger sibling UNHESITATINGLY grabbed his spoon and began DEVOURING Life, bite after bite. Little Mikey tried something new…and LIKED it!
This is my takeaway from that commercial: The bowl represents YOU & ME and what’s inside the bowl are LIFE EXPERIENCES. What is in MY bowl this morning? As I peer at its contents, I wonder if I am I like the older boys in that commercial who shove Life toward the other, afraid to try it, pawning off something “DIFFERENT” onto someone else. Or am I the “Mikey type” who reaches for the spoon, opens their mouth and starts the shoveling? We never did see if the brothers eventually followed suit. All we know is that Mikey was NOT afraid of Life. That’s the point. That’s what is important. That’s the takeaway.
We are ALL born with a spoon…an inner, or innate, desire to TRY something new. Curiosity. Hunger. A spirit of adventure. We may use that spoon to go after life in whatever fashion we want, with whatever amount of gusto we choose. Some are born with a silver spoon, blessed to be born into a world where they want for nothing and are able to take a chance at anything. Options are aplenty. The expense of those options is not a consideration, does not pose a hindrance. Others, sad to say, are far less fortunate. Cursed, they are born into a realm of poverty with very little likelihood of escaping a life of impoverishment. They live in a world of nothing. Option, not a word in their vocabulary. The majority of people fall somewhere in-between…unable to do everything they desire, but they can do some things. In any case, everybody has a spoon, be it metallic, wooden or plastic.
Rich and poor alike may shove life aside, just as the older boys did in that ad. Like my younger sibling once said, “I don’t want to try any of that ‘un-uh’ stuff.”, UNWILLING to brave something new. Both the wealthy and the destitute may also be Mikeys…DIGGING into life ENTHUSIASTICALLY! When it comes to food, I will admit I am more like the older brothers in that Life ad. When I like something, I am uninterested in trying anything else. Call me stubborn. After all, I’m Swedish.
At restaurants I frequent, I have a favorite meal, or two, that I LOVE, and that’s what I plan on ordering, even before the car has been put into park. That’s precisely WHY I patronize THAT particular eatery. I ain’t interested in deviating from what my taste buds are accustomed to, for what they are hankering. Other folks have a 180 degree mindset. They try something new EVERY time they enter a restaurant. WHY? They may order food ANTAGONISTIC to their palate and that’s a waste of money. I go out to eat because I’m HUNGRY! NOT looking for a “new experience”. I need to quell my hunger pang. I prefer to have something I KNOW is tasty sliding over my taste buds. Not wanting them to cause the food to do a U-turn. It’s a reject-free zone. A one way thoroughfare. Sated button NEEDS to be hit. ASAP! Kind of a common sense thing.
When it comes to trying other things, some people (and it seems fewer rather than a majority) get their spoons out EARLY in life and make quick work of what’s in their bowl, like backpack across a continent. Skydive or bungee jump. Go to Hawaii on vacation…then stay there to live. Ask the most popular kid in the school to the dance and won’t blanch if invite is turned down. Try out for the lead in a school play even if they have no experience…or talent. Take the hardest classes. Stand up to the bully. They grasp TIGHTLY to their spoons. Emptying their bowl over the years has built up their risk muscles, expanded their comfort zones. Less risky types secretly wish they were more like that, more like Mikey. Instead, they too often push the bowl away. Lose or misplace their spoons. Or ignore them. But they do sit back and admire those who “got a grip.”
What do you think is needed to become less risk-averse, more daring, a tad more adventurous? CHANGE. A change of some sort is needed. Change of mind, scenery or the will. Perhaps watch the movie “Yes” ten times in one week. Put down the fork. It’s the picky utensil. Un-shovel-like. Too specific. Subscribe to Entrepreneur magazine…then start a new business. Begin shopping at REI…plan a trip to Mt. Everest. Buy a ONE-WAY ticket to somewhere. ANYWHERE! Write a screen play and submit it to Mister Spielberg. Take baby steps across the floor à la Bill Murray in “What About Bob?” Don’t let fear deter oneself from trying something new or different. It is all about the NEW EXPERIENCE!
So….my newest goal is to become a SPOON-CLUTCHER. Next time a big bowl of “life” is pushed in front of me, I’m digging in! I’m choosing NOW to like it. Gonna be like Mikey. Have a second helping. EXPAND my comfort zone. REVEL in the different. EXERCISE my risk muscles.
I am going to try out a new restaurant and order pig’s feet or cow’s brain. Eat fish whose name I cannot pronounce. Gonna bring my spoon and try the yak stew….and I will order it with CINNAMON! So what’s in YOUR bowl?