The valuable life lesson you can learn from chewing gum.
When I was a kid, I liked chewing gum. I found the whole process fascinating. And when I say the whole process, I mean the whole process. I discovered that human effort can transform gum. And through the same process, we can learn to transform ourselves. Which is getting pretty deep for a story about chewing gum. But let’s go with it and see what we land.
Chew, Chew!
Gum starts as a solid form. It’s typically a stick or a small blocky nugget of some sort. Although it could be shaped like tape or rope. It could be a primary-colored ball. (I always call gumballs Bryant or Greg.) Or your gum may be shredded like cheese if you are into Big League Chew. And I am into Big League Chew.
As you begin to chew, your gum changes form under your direction. It softens as you mash it and mold it with your molars.
During the chewing process, gum releases its embedded flavor into your mouth. Gumtastic flavors include mint, peppermint, spearmint, experiment, wintergreen, cinnamon, grape, orange, watermelon, sour apple, lemon, strawberry, blueberry and the elusive juicy fruit, the Sasquatch of fruit.
Despite the wide range of interesting flavors that are used to create and market gum, shortly after you start chewing, the flavor disappears. And when it does, the most enjoyable part of the experience is over. Boo.
Then, not long after that, the gum begins to harden. Double Boo.
At this point, the fun part of chewing gum is over for most people. In fact, most people spit their gum out somewhere between the flavor dissipation and the great hardening.
But my favorite part of chewing gum comes after most people quit it, spit it and forget it.
At that point, most people feel they have extracted all the value they could get from gum. Other than maybe sticking the hard, flavorless wad to the underside of a desk or a railing for Buddy Elf.
Most people have no idea what happens after chewing gum loses flavor and hardens.
But I know.
Because when I was a kid, I loved to keep mashing away after the thrill was gone for most kids. I felt like the gum became an opponent to beat. I felt the gum was challenging me to a showdown on the playground at high noon. And the formerly fruity gum thought it was tougher than me.
But I wouldn’t wave the white flag.
I kept chewing and chomping. Like a cow chewing cud. Or Hubba Bubba. Or Bazooka.
Then, an interesting thing happened.
The gum gave up.
The wad of gum that became so tough to chew threw in its tiny little gum towel. It softened again. And then it fell apart. It lost all shape. It lost its will to gum. It stopped resisting. And it literally liquefied.
The formerly proud gum became a runny puddle of nothingness. No flavor. No form. No function. In fact, you could no longer even hold it in your mouth. If you didn’t spit the puddle out it would leak out of your face.
I loved getting to that point. It always made me feel like I had won. I felt like I took on a difficult challenge and completed it. I felt like I took on a difficult opponent, and I beat it. Like Michael Jackson.
The Lesson
Gum chewing taught me I could do hard things. That I could push through the unrewarding muddy middle of a long process. And that if I just kept going, even when it wasn’t fun. I would win.
I have applied the gum-chewing lesson countless times throughout my life. I found the approach useful as a track and field athlete when the work felt hard and the rewards felt small. It was helpful as an entrepreneur when I started The Weaponry and found that you just have to keep chewing no matter what. The lesson served me well when I wrote What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? and the work seemed long and the finish line was nowhere in sight. And as I faced the hard and unrewarding parts of parenthood, employment and yard maintenance I reminded myself that the key to getting through tough times and past challenging obstacles it to just keep chewing.
Key Takeaway
Success and accomplishment is like chewing gum. Everyone enjoys the beginning. It’s full of flavor and quick rewards. But when those immediate rewards disappear, it’s easy to quit. You lose interest and motivation. And when things get hard, it’s easy to get soft. But if you just keep going, keep doing and chewing, you will win. You will get the ultimate reward of knowing that you are tougher than the things you face. It’s an incredibly valuable lesson to learn from a stick of Big Red or Juicy Fruit. It’s a lesson that is more valuable than the fun, the flavor or the freshening the gum provides. But you only learn that lesson by sticking around when things get hard, and chewing to the very end.
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+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.