The following paragraph is as relevant today as it was the 60 years ago it was written:
“On the street corner, just opposite the room in which I am writing, I see a man who stands there all day selling peanuts. He is busy every minute. When not actually engaged in making a sale he is roasting and packing the peanuts in little bags. He is one of that great army constituting the ninety-five percent who have no difinite purpose in life. He is selling peanuts, not because he likes the work better than anything else he might do, but becuase he never sat down and thought out a definite purpose that would bring him greater returns for his labor. He is selling peanuts because he is a drifter on the sea of life, and one of the tragedies of his work is the fact that the same amount of effort that he puts into it, if directed along other lines, would bring him much greater returns.”-Napoleon Hill, The Law of Success
I love that this passage is about a man selling peanuts. In modern terms “peanuts” represents very little from an abundance stand point. Whenever someone is laboring for a wage BECAUSE they are afraid to pursue a dream….they are settling for peanuts in life.
Sure it can be peanuts from a financial view, but it is also peanuts from a fulfillment and joy view as well.To SETTLE is to essentially give up…for whatever reason…and by the way, the reason won’t make anyone feel any better in 10 or 20 years when they face the consequences of settling.
Anyone can have peanuts. The bible points out that even the birds always seem to have food….peanuts represent living in scarcity and fear…holding on to a tiny bit instead of pursuing abundance.
Peanuts will always be the ultimate fall back in modern society. It has never been easier (or safer) to pursue dreams than in todays world. So don’t don’t don’t settle for peanuts…they cost too much in the long run.
