The Cream Cheese and Jelly Sandwich 🥪

1 Min Read

We live in an instant world. But when it comes to influence and helping people change, it takes time. Patience. Understanding. The willingness to let the process run its course.

Sometimes that means weeks, months, or even years.

So what does this have to do with cream cheese and jelly sandwiches?

When I was a kid, my dad would sometimes make a cream cheese and jelly sandwich as a late-night snack. I thought it was disgusting. Bleh. I didn’t like cream cheese at all, and ruining jelly with it felt criminal.

Years later, after my dad passed away, I found myself staring into the fridge late one night. There was the jar of jelly. The tub of cream cheese. And I remembered him. By then, my tastes had changed. (I still prefer a bagel with butter, but I tolerate cream cheese now.) I figured, why not?

I made one. And you know what? Pretty good. I even make one now and then. (You should try it!)

We’re always planting seeds (or sandwiches)—through what we do and say. We may never know if or when they’ll grow, but that doesn’t make the planting any less important. That’s how influence works: slowly, quietly, and often when we least expect it.

Thanks for the extra snack in my arsenal, Dad.

Steve

I also learned that the cream cheese and jelly sandwich was popularized in the 50’s and 60’s when my dad was a kid.