The Charlie Brown Within
“The more you dwell on what you don’t have, the more you get what you don’t want.” ~Unknown
Do you remember Charlie Brown, the famous Peanuts character? Sure you do. As a child, Peanuts was one of my favorite comic strips. Charlie Brown always failed at what he did—yet he was funny and lovable.
But after years of seeing the bald protagonist fail and smile adorably, it got me thinking.
I looked up Charlie Brown in Wikipedia and this somewhat shocked me:
“. . . a lovable loser, a child possessed of endless determination and hope, but who is ultimately dominated by his insecurities and a permanent case of bad luck, and is often taken advantage of by his peers.”
So is there a Charlie Brown inside us too? Aren’t we hopeful and determined like him (maybe not endlessly, but still)? Yet, aren’t we also prevented from reaching our goals due to inherent fears and false insecurities?
If you think about it, you will find some similarities between the character and ourselves.
We love our lives, we care for our loved ones and yet we fail at our goals time and again due to our fears and negative thinking.
Our fears and negativities lead us into a “victim-mentality” of sorts. The ego-self loves this kind of thinking because it gets . . . attention. This mentality also makes us dwell on what we don’t have.
Rather, we should march forward and gain what we want. Do you see the difference in thinking?
A gentle shift of focus can lead to a quantum leap in results. In order to move forward, we have to shift our focus from “don’t want” and “don’t have” to “want this” and “will achieve this.”
Evaluate your progress. Observe where you are failing. Are you overwhelmed with the negative vibes from a colleague? Take a break from them. Are you mentally swamped because of your partner’s unfair demands? Talk it out with them.
Every problem has a solution, so look for it. My point is get out of the victim-mentality as soon as possible and set yourself straight on the path to success and happiness.
In short, don’t be a Charlie Brown no matter how adorable and cute. :)
--Tina Su
Photo by Brandon Warren
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