Uncle Rico Syndrome

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I hope you have seen the classic cinematic masterpiece, “Napoleon Dynamite.” If not, you need to turn off Game of Thrones reruns or Tiger King and watch that movie. It’s how your shelter-in-place-downtime can be effectively used. And if you have seen the movie, then you are familiar with the beloved character, Uncle Rico.

Except, he is not beloved. He is creepy. And quite sad. And although his character creates some hilarious moments in the movie, you wouldn’t want to hang around people like that. You wouldn’t want him babysitting your children or even your llama. You probably wouldn’t even want to buy Tupperware from him.

Uncle Rico is still trapped in high school. The past has such a hold on him that he is unable to move forward into the future. He is still haunted by a potentially glorious moment that slipped through his fingers as a teenager. As he sees it, his impact and influence peaked in high school. Content replaying the exploits of his past, Uncle Rico’s mind is imprisoned by his own Glory Days.

While Uncle Rico’s character may be an exaggerated example, we can all fall prey to this kind of thinking. Assuming we have “peaked” in some fashion or another long ago, we resign ourselves remembering the good ol’ days of the past instead of building our future. And because we don’t allow ourselves to be stretched and challenged in those areas of our life, regression becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What a sad way to live, believing your best is already behind you! No matter what you have or haven’t accomplished in life, there is always room to grow. Always new challenges to stretch you. And more importantly, there will always be people who depend on you to improve. Believe your best is yet to come, and then live in such a way that ensures it.

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