The Award Phenomenon

It’s that time of year when all manner of awards are given out e.g. the People’s Choice, the SAG, the Oscars, Super Bowl trophy.  We seem to be an award driven society.  Consider the fact that any time two or more individuals congregate, someone comes out with one of the following: a trophy, a medal, a certificate, a scalp, a ribbon, money, an appliance, a jar of Ida Mae’s Super Probiotic Kombucha.  Even our pets are part of this phenomenon.  Dogs get prizes for sitting.  Cats get prizes for making an appearance.  Horses get roses for running fast.  I wonder if I could get roses for running fast.  Achievement in order to be some kind of winner dates back to the beginning of life on earth. Did you know the real reason dinosaurs became extinct was because of vying for the golden goose?  That’s right. 
 
There were several species of dinosaurs-tyrannosaurus, stegosaurus, apatosaurus, ichthysaurus, and a foxasaurus, for example.  The dinosaurs were either herbivores or carnivores.  The herbivores roamed the earth doing dinosaur stuff and feasting on the lush foliage.  The carnivores roamed the earth doing dinosaur stuff and feasting on each other.  All was well.  Then one fateful day, the course of history was changed forever.  To explain, we must fast forward several million years.  There were a couple of brothers named Grimm, a Dane named Anderson and a Frenchman named Anonymous who wrote stories for children.  In one of these stories there was a boy, Jack, who climbed up a beanstalk that went into the clouds.  In the clouds was a castle inhabited by a giant who had valuable treasures.  Jack, being a greedy, selfish teen-age felon, began stealing the giant’s treasures. One of his heists included taking a goose that laid golden eggs.  As Jack was making his way down the beanstalk, he slipped.  Struggling to regain his footing, he inadvertently let go of the goose.  The goose plummeted towards the ground.  During her free fall, she went through a wrinkle in time.  This took her back to Jurassic Park, landing in the lap of the foxasaurus.  The goose was so freaked out by these shocking events, she began laying golden eggs uncontrollably.  Foxy Loxy (that was the foxasaurus’ name) knew a good thing when he saw it.  So he seized the opportunity to cash in.  First, he gathered up the traumatized goose, the golden eggs and brought them to his cave.  He told Lucy (that was the goose’s name) she would be safe there.  Foxy devised a plan to arrange contests and various competitions among the dinosaurs.  Winners would receive a golden egg.  There would be entry fees to participate.  Foxy would get rich from these fees.  How to get the word out?  That sly old Foxy found a way even without social media. 
 
The other dinosaurs were quite intrigued by the idea of something new to do with their time.  For a while, all went according to Foxy’s plan.  However, the best laid plans of foxasauruses oft go astray.  Long story short, the loser dinosaurs wanted to be winners.  They wanted golden eggs and set about to obtain them.  Their methods were nefarious.  There was looting and pillaging.  Fights broke out.  The skirmishes turned into a great war.  As the dinosaurs were destroying themselves, Foxy grabbed Lucy and escaped to the edge of the earth.  Everyone knows that in those days, the earth was flat.  Foxy figured his only chance was to jump.  With Lucy tucked under an appendage, he leapt into space.  And would you believe it?  They passed through another wrinkle in time.  Amazingly, Lucy found herself back in Jack’s arm just as he got down from the beanstalk.  So that story turned out as we know it.  The foxasaurus found himself standing on all fours at the edge of a barnyard.  His dinosaur scales had turned into fur.  Looking around, his eye caught sight of a little chicken flapping and clucking something about the sky falling.  Foxy Loxy’s mercenary mind began formulating new schemes for fun and profit.  We also know how that story turned out.  Meanwhile the war of dinosaurs waged on, until they were completely eradicated.  All that remained was silence . . . and a pile of bones.  
 
There are 4 morals to this story: 

One: We all need to feel acknowledged, appreciated and loved.  

Two:  Seeking acknowledgement by an award does not lead to life long fulfillment.  That jar of Ida Mae’s empties in time. 
 
Three: Looking inside, into our hearts will help us understand our worth, that we are already enough. 
 
Four: When we realize we are an original, that we always have what it takes, a blue ribbon or a new jar of Ida Mae’s Kombucha can’t hurt. 

Comments are welcomed.

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