Do You Have the Gobloots? Turning Green Yet?
Today I watched Episode 16, “Lucy Fakes Illness,” which aired on January 28, 1952.
Ricky needs acts for his show, and Lucy desperately wants to be included. Ethel tells Lucy that if Ricky keeps denying her the opportunity to perform, she could develop a mental illness. So, naturally, Lucy decides to fake one in hopes that Ricky will finally let her be in the show.
Lucy convinces Ricky that she is genuinely sick, and he calls a doctor. But Fred tells Ricky that Lucy is faking, so Ricky decides to get even. He hires an actor friend to pretend to be a doctor and diagnose Lucy with the “gobloots”—a completely made-up disease. The doctor tells her that if she turns green, she will die.
Ricky places a green light bulb near Lucy’s bed, and when she sees herself turning green, she becomes convinced that she is dying. The moment Ricky reveals that she isn’t really sick, she immediately feels better.
It got me thinking about the power of belief—and how strongly the stories we tell ourselves can affect what we experience.
I remember when I was a runner and completed half and full marathons. During a marathon, I would sometimes reach mile 23 and hit what runners call “the wall.” My mind and body would feel as though they had completely shut down.
I found that if I could quiet my mind and believe I could make it through that one difficult mile, I could keep going. And it worked. I finished many races by quieting the voice telling me to stop and focusing only on finishing the mile in front of me.
Once I made it through that mile, it was as though a logjam had broken apart. Suddenly, I could move forward again.
There is a saying: “If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t.”
It all goes back to the power of belief. The stories we tell ourselves are really powerful, and our minds listen. Over the years, I’ve become very mindful of the stories I tell myself and the words I choose to use.
What stories are you telling yourself? Are they helping you or not
