"Monday 5 Things" with D. Paul Graham
.....Nip It In The Bud.....
Monday 5 Things…..Nip It In The Bud…..
Until I was 12 years old, we had a black and white TV that had a whopping two channels; a few more if I was able to wiggle the antenna for UHF channels to watch American channels. One of my favorite shows to watch on Saturday mornings was re-runs of ‘The Andy Griffith Show’, that was set in fictional Mayberry, North Carolina. Sherriff Andy Taylor and his deputy, Barney Fife kept Mayberry safe, all the while espousing doing your best at whatever you do, standing up for what you believe in, living with character, and practicing the beatitudes and the reciprocity of the golden rule. Last week M5T looked at keeping our individuality while being bombarded by technology. Today, M5T steps back to the days of black and white TV and slows down a bit by considering the wisdom of Barney Fife. On the surface, Barney’s character was one of a simple, uneducated man. Yet, many of his lines in the show revealed a depth and profundity toward living a full life that we can still learn from today.
1. Being Comfortable With Yourself.
“Don’t pick your peaches ‘til they're fuzzed up good.”
“If there is anything that upsets me, it’s having people say I’m too sensitive.”
"I'm a man of the world, Andy. Why, I've even been to Raleigh!"
"You know something I found out? If you ride in the wind with your mouth open and you put your tongue up on the roof of your mouth, it's impossible to pronounce a word that starts with the letter 'S'."
2. Nip it in the Bud.
One of Barney’s most used lines about stopping negativity before it starts. On stress: “At the first sign of stress, you got to nip it in the bud. Nip it. You go read any book you want on the subject of stress and you’ll find that every one of them is in favor of bud-nippin.”
On relationships: "If after a month or so your date keeps dragging her mother along, you've got a problem. Nip it! Nip it! Nip it!"
On raising kids: “Yeah, well, today's eight-year-olds are tomorrow's teenagers. I say this calls for action, and now. First sign of youngsters goin' wrong, you got to nip it in the bud. Just don't mollycoddle them. Nip it. You go read any book you want on the subject of child discipline and you'll find that every one of them is in favor of bud-nippin'.”
3. Communication.
“I don’t chew my cabbage twice.”
“I ain't got time to stand around here and discuss trivial trivialities.”
4. Dealing with pain.
“You’ve been hurt…now you got all that anger and that hatred just boilin’ inside of you making you sick and miserable and you got to get it out…and the only way to get it out is to talk…it’s therapetic (sic – another endearing part of Barney was his mispronunciation of words)
5. On politics.
"Politics and politicians have been around for a lot'a years and we're likely not to get rid of 'em any time soon. I guess most of the good, common folks of this country will keep right on living their lives and raising their kids and keeping their yards neat in spite of politicians, not because of 'em."
Here’s to slowing down your week and reflecting on insights found in the simplest of thoughts, words, and deeds. And should you be so inclined, all eight seasons of ‘The Andy Griffith Show” can be binged on Netflix and Amazon.
© 2019 D. Paul Graham, all rights reserved.
D. Paul Graham is passionate about people, culture, photography and business. He has embraced his wanderlust with his travels around the globe and is at peace with his need for spirited drives in all things automotive.
You can find M5T each Monday here on www.southmag.com and by friending D. Paul Graham on Facebook. Paul is also a contributing photographer to South Magazine. His photographic work can be found on Instagram @dpgraham and at www.imageGRAHAM.com. Your feedback is always welcome. Email Paul at dpg@imagegraham.com
