Marshmallows And Success!

The art of delayed gratification is one of the disciplines of success! There was an experiment done similar to the posted video showing the torture children experience when learning this principle; they examined those same children and reviewed their achievements years later. Those who held out and didn't eat the marshmallow had by far exceeded the level of success of those that chose the path of immediate gratification.

 You have to love the reaction of theses little darlings! I recently saw another video where a young lady ate the inside of the marshmallow out, leaving it to appear untouched. The gentleman narrating explained to the audience he was certain based on the previous experiment this young girl would achieve success, but she would absolutely have to be watched.


The General of the Confederate Army, Robert E. Lee, was a man of honor and integrity, and he is known as one of the greatest leaders in all of American history. He had a particular abhorrence of selfishness that found its foundation in following his Master, Jesus Christ. After the Civil War when a mother asked him what would be the greatest instruction she could give her infant son, his reply was, “Madam, teach him to deny himself.”

The video depicts this is easier said than done. You have to love the facial expressions exhibiting the mental torture involved while these youngsters wrestle with their decisions. We want to do the right thing, otherwise those kids would just gobble down the tasty morsel. This is an epic example of how tempting it is to take the path of least resistance and by default deny ourselves a greater reward, effectively trading the later great for the current good. It's important to remember, those little darling are just smaller versions of us, and those marshmallows could be any shiny object that distracts us from greatness!

God Bless!
Capt. Bill