"Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere." - Pixar's Ratatouille
Once upon a winter perhaps during a darkening dusk, I asked my dad why the days during the winter got to be so short.
He told me that Earth's tilted axis allows the world to move farther away from the sun during winter which creates both the colder season and shorter daylight hours. The farther we are from the sun, the less light there is.
"The less light there is, the more dark."
That made so much sense to me, and I never forgot when my dad told me that.
Throughout the years, I've come across friends, family or acquaintances who were sad, stuck, angry, negative etc...
I, myself, have always been more or less a jolly soul, and I like to least offer an ear or some sort of help to people that need it. I said this:
"The more you love, the less you hate."
or
"The more positivity in you, the less negativity."
Tuns out, my dad's lesson taught me more than why the days during winter are shorter. Sure, that is literally what he taught me, but I TOOK much more than that from the lesson.
In fact, I "took" two important things from his lesson.
Here's the first:
I learned that there is really only 100% of a ratio. There is no more than 100%, there is no less than 100%. In my dad's lesson, the ratio is the light/dark ratio. So can the factors can be interchangeable?
If the idea that "the less light there is, the more dark" makes so much sense to me, then why should it only help with my questions about short days? Why not exchange "light" with "love" in the equation?
That way of thinking brought some sort of clarity to me.
"The more you love, the less you hate."
"The more you love, the less you hate."
"The more you love, the less you hate."
....Now that made a lot of sense to me.
"The more positivity in you, the less negativity."
"The more positivity in you, the less negativity."
"The more positivity in you, the less negativity."
....Yep, that made a lot of sense too.
It still does...
The human brain can only take so much. It can only be filled to 100%. So if you really REALLY fill it with love, then the love/hate ratio will tip in love's favor, Don't you think?
Think of a glass of Hershey's syrup chocolate milk...
Is it a glass of milk? Or is it a glass of chocolate?
Well, it's mostly milk with some chocolate mixed in.
If it was a glass of chocolate syrup with a little milk mixed in.... Well that's just gross! I like my chocolate milk more over on the milky side.
The glass is 100%. It can't hold anymore. So best fill it mostly with milk with just enough chocolate to keep things interesting and inspired to keep drinking.
If anybody out there who's reading this is suffering from sadness, hopelessness, anger, depression, inferiority etc... I challenge you to stop feeling that way. Stop thinking that way. Fill your brain with positivity instead of negativity. Fill your heart with love instead of hate. Tip the ratio in favor of the positives. Give yourself a chance. No overnight task to some, I'm sure. But if you start now, then guess what; you started. Now all you have to do is keep going. Easy, right? ;)
I mentioned earlier that my dad's lesson taught me two important things.
Here's the second:
My dad taught me a lesson about the sun, planet and light. But I took way more than that from it.
I realized that I can learn valuable lessons anywhere and everywhere. It's not necessary for someone to slap an answer at me right in the face. I can find some answers anywhere that presents the opportunity.
As of this blog, I'm calling it, "The Ratatouille Effect."
RA·TA·TOUILLE EF·FECT [rat-uh-too-ee ih-fekt]
noun
An epiphany caused when one learns a valuable lesson from ANYWHERE, especially obscure, random or unforeseen places.
A definition? Wow, now its official, eh?
In the Pixar flick, an incredible chef ends up coming out of the sewer in the form of a rat.
The lesson they are teaching is that you don't have to be rich, popular, male, female, white, black or anything in between to do something great. It can come from anywhere.
Why should the lessons stop there though? Why not take something else?
"Not everything can become a great lesson, but a great lesson
can come from anywhere." - Ratatouille (with interchanged factors!)
