"Up Yours Mr Peanut"

Many of you who have been following me since day one (or know me personally) know that I am a big fan of doing what is right. In fact, it is the purpose of this blog to encourage others to join me in my mission to change the world by doing what is right. And while doing what is right is always good, sometimes doing something small goes a whole lot further. People all need something different to make them happy, and sometimes that thing is as simple as a coloring book.

I hope that the person in the following story doesn’t mind my sharing this story. Several years ago (40 or more if my memory serves) a friend of mine sent away for a Mr Peanut Presidents of the United States Coloring Book. It cost him 15 cents and two Planters wrappers. He waited and waited, but like so many childhood heroes, Mr Peanut turned out to be a sham. And my friend, being who he is, was very very bitter about not receiving his coloring book. Fast forward to this Christmas. As my friend sat around the tree doling out Xmas gifts with his family, he had no idea that a very special gift was waiting for him under that tree. A Mr Peanut Presidents of the United States Coloring Book. The exact one he had sent away for so many years ago, now he had finally received it. Though under very different circumstances from what he had originally hoped or intended.

Had my friend received this item the way he had originally intended, it would have gone the way of so many childhood coloring books: scribbled in and destroyed the thrown out with the leftovers from so many family dinners. Now, having had time to brood over the failure of Mr Peanut, the item is an instant treasured keepsake.

There are two things we can learn from Mr Peanut’s Presidents of the United States Coloring Book. One, is that sometimes, it’s good to wait for the things we want now, because we may end up wanting them more later. The other thing that I personally learned is that, you never know what will make someone’s day. You never know what little, seemingly simplest of things, may make somebody’s day just a little brighter. And if you can do something small to make their life better, why shouldn’t you?