This story below is from the collection Aesop’s Fables (source):
A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox’s mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.
The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain.
Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.
“What a fool I am,” he said. “Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for.”
And off he walked very, very scornfully.
I love this story because I fall victim to this all the time.
I pretend (key word here) to despise and belittle things that are (at the time) beyond my reach.
Sure, doing such a thing makes me feel better about myself temporarily, but the more I sit with myself, the more frustrated I become. Certain things I belittle constantly come back to the surface of my cognition like a wave surfacing on the beach. Back and forth, on and off, there and not there.
Over time, I realized that acting like the fox above is no way to live.
Here are a few questions that I ask myself about something I come across that seems unreachable:
- What will it take to reach what I want?
- What will I have to change about my life, my thoughts, my actions to potentially reach what I want?
- Do I really want it?
- Why do I want it so bad? What will it bring me that I don’t have today?
Once I reflect, I make a decision.
I either go all in and attempt to reach it or I don’t.
If I don’t choose to try to reach them, I accept the fact that those grapes aren’t sour – they’re probably delicious – but that they are just not for me.
I realize that I have plenty more delicious fruits that I don’t want to drop or lose on the way up to get the grapes.
I do not act as though I never wanted them or attempt to belittle them. That is cowardly to me and a straight up lie.
I’ve recently realized this with money. I’ve gone years playing down money as something that is a “nice to have” rather than a “necessity.” Something that “can’t bring you happiness” or have even gone as extreme as saying “money is the root of all evil.”
That got me nowhere.
I felt conflicted because as much as I played that narrative in my head, I would always revisit the thought that money was actually something important to me. Not as a measuring stick to compare myself to others, but as a measure of value I’m providing to the world. Ultimately, I want to become wealthy so that I can spend more time with those I love.
I no longer look at money like sour grapes. Chalking my lack of it up to the fact that it’s for “greedy” or “rich” people. I stopped lying to myself and can’t explain to you in words the relief I feel.
I may not achieve the financial goals I have set out for myself, but I have relieved the tension inside of me that I felt for years due to my sour grapes mentality towards money – and that, my friends, is priceless.
What are you treating as sour grapes in your life?
Are you chalking the lack of physical health up to genetics, the holidays, or the mounds of excuses that you can find?
Are you chalking up the lack of financial health to the same excuses I was?
Are you chalking the lack of mental health up to “2020” or “adulting”?
I challenge you today to be honest with yourself about what you want. Don’t feel bad about wanting something that makes you uncomfortable. Discover within yourself why you might want it and determine what you might need to change to reach those damn grapes.
If you’re cool with the fruits you have, all the power to you.
If you know that the taste of those grapes will be on your mind daily, go and taste those damn grapes!
Let’s get after it.
Potential 