Problems are a part of life…sigh

Have you ever got chewing gum stuck in your hair? Or tried to get your dog to swallow a pill? How about cake layers or slices of bread that keep sliding apart?

These are pesky problems, but have I got a solution for you!

Before we go there, though, let me confess that the problems I referred to above are only symbols for what I really want to address.

I’m speaking a secret language, sort of

Chewing gum stuck in your hair is code for a tricky obstruction that messes you up and makes you look bad. Getting your dog to swallow a pill is like having to deliver bad news to someone who refuses to accept it. And keeping the bread together is trying to create harmony between two opposing forces, a daily challenge if you’re a mother with children at home, or a team leader at work.

Let me share the secret solution.

It’s peanut butter.

When I was a kid, I may have fallen asleep once or twice with gum in my mouth and woke up with it in my hair. I remember my mom working it out with peanut butter, which loosened the gum and helped slide it out of my hair.

I recently watched a short video on YouTube, presented by a man named Doug Stevenson. He related how he’d taken his sick dog to the vet and been sent home with a bottle of pills and instructions for administering them. He followed the doctor’s guidelines, but the dog was having none of it. He asked a friend’s advice, and the friend recommended coating the pill with peanut butter. It worked.

As for getting things to stick together, peanut butter is famous for it.

I’m still speaking metaphorically

You may have guessed that, while I am giving you tremendously helpful information, I am again speaking metaphorically.  Just as peanut butter has so many little uses to add flavor and functionality to your life, so, too, does the power of Story.

Remember Doug Stevenson, mentioned above in relation to the YouTube video? He, also, likened peanut butter to the power of Story. It’s a short clip, just over five minutes, but entertaining, and it illustrates how Story has the power to bring home a point. Click on the link and give it a try. Also, be sure to note the handy infographic I put together for you with nine astounding uses for peanut butter. Enjoy!

We are hard-wired to pay attention to story, and predisposed to care about it. When you’re in a sticky situation, you can often better express your desires and enlist needed help from people when you involve them in the story about how you got there. As humans, we share common experiences, and our hearts are stirred to help others where we can, especially when we feel their particular pain.

People are more willing to swallow a bitter pill when it’s wrapped in a lubricant like peanut butter, or a story, that makes it go down easier. Coaches and commanders know the power of Story and how it can help pull a team together and motivate them through the tough spots.

Not only is Story the peanut butter, it’s also the glue.

One last benefit of using story, as it relates to the problems in life, is the binding memories this creates with family and friends. Think of those wonderful moments when you’re able to just get together and talk, reminiscing and laughing over old times. It’s the stories that come out during those moments that make the glue. The stories based on conflicts and obstacles are most often the ones that get the tears flowing—tears of laughter, gratitude, and shared human experience.

My takeaway for today…

Use the nutritious and delicious power of peanut butter (and now you know, I really mean Story) to help make your life easier and enrich your experiences. And if you haven’t signed up yet for my email list, get yourself some peanut butter today. And by that, of course, I mean click this link and sign up!

What peanut butter stories have you used to get past those sticky moments in life?