Be a Yellow Rubber Duck

I would love to take credit for the idea of being a Yellow Rubber Duck because it is fantastic; however, this was a post that came through my personal facebook feed and was attributed to "Adidas (Auckland Marathon)."

It goes like this:

Runner, from now on you are a yellow rubber duck.

You cannot be crushed.  You cannot be broken.
You bounce back.

You will always rise to the surface.

Repeat after me: 'I am a yellow rubber duck.'
When it hurts: 'I am a yellow rubber duck.'
At 17km: 'I am a yellow rubber duck.'
When your blisters burst: 'I am a yellow rubber duck.'
When you hit the wall: 'I am a yellow rubber duck.'
When you complete the marathon: 'I am a very happy yellow rubber duck.'

I imagine many of you may get where this is headed.  You don't have to be a runner to be a Yellow Rubber Duck.  Of course people do get crushed or at least smashed a bit.  We may get broken or cracked.  And we may not always be able to bounce back.  Oftentimes these things happen because we have lost sight of who we are.  The Yellow Rubber Duck?  The Yellow Rubber Duck doesn't know any of that.  It can be stepped on and it will return to its natural Yellow Rubber Duck state.  It can be forced under water and it will simply explode back to the surface.  Why?  Because it is a Yellow Rubber Duck and it is made that way.  It cannot be anything other than that.  It is what it is.  It will never be Gumby or GI Joe or Barbie for that matter.  And...it doesn't have to be.  Bath time wouldn't be the same without the Yellow Rubber Duck.  We need it to be exactly what it is.    

Same with you.  You are who you are and the world needs you.  You can try to be someone other than who you are, but that will weaken you and make it easier for you to be crushed or broken.  When you are not who you authentically are, it is easier to get lost under water and you may not be able to find your way back to the surface.  When you know who you are and you unapologetically express your authentic self - you will be as tough as the Yellow Rubber Duck.  And you'll be content.

When it hurts, you will be able to determine the source of your pain and whether or not the pain is warranted (i.e., is someone else trying to make you feel badly for being you?).  When you hit a wall you will be able to look inward and wonder any number of things: Who constructed this wall?  Me?  Someone else?  Can I go around, under, over, through it?  Can I simply push it over?  You'll know what to do based on who you truly are and what you are truly capable of.

You will be strong, content, and certain.  Getting there, however, requires that you know who you truly are.  It is not easy to figure that out sometimes, and you certainly don't have to figure it all out now.  One of the best things about pursuing authenticity is that if you are open to the process you will continuously learn new things about yourself.  Some of those things may not be so great, but they will be worth knowing because then you can decide what to do about those not so great things: accept them, change them, figure out how they make you even more uniquely you...the list is endless.  And, when you learn things about yourself that you think are kinda great you can nurture and protect those parts of you.  And you can look for people who like those things about you too.

Next time you hesitate when expressing an opinion, thought, idea that is authentically you, picture yourself as a Yellow Rubber Duck.  Some of those who are listening to you may step on you.  But, you can bounce back if your allow yourself to.  And you may find that someone else speaks up either in your defense or sometime later tells you that they agree with you - they will help you bounce back if you let them.

So be you.  Be a Yellow Rubber Duck.  Bounce back and rise to the surface.  The world is not the same without the authentic version of you.  Just like bath time is not the same without an authentic Yellow Rubber Duck.


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