The Town of Noddynuff

Once upon a time, there was a town called Noddynuff. Everyone who lived there believed the same thing. They didn't have enough. Not enough money. Not enough time. Not enough opportunity. Not enough security. Not enough of whatever it was they needed to feel safe. The people of Noddynuff had become very good at noticing what was missing. They could tell you exactly what they didn't have, what might go wrong, and why now probably wasn't the right time.

There were six residents in particular who seemed to have the most influence over the town. There was Mr. Indifference, who had stopped expecting much from life. He didn't complain much because, as far as he was concerned, there wasn't much point in trying. Then there was Miss Indecision, who could never quite make up her mind. She preferred to let other people do the thinking. She was very comfortable sitting on the fence, looking at both sides and choosing neither.

Mrs. Doubt was there, too. Mrs. Doubt always had a reason. If something hadn't worked, she could explain why. If someone else had succeeded, she could explain why it probably wouldn't last. She had a wonderful collection of excuses and was especially good at pointing out why someone else's success didn't mean much.

Mr. Worry was always busy. He could find something wrong with almost anything. He worried about what might happen tomorrow, next week, next year, and sometimes about things that had happened twenty years ago. His relative, Mr. Overcaution, was usually close by. Mr. Overcaution liked to look for the negative side of every circumstance. He knew all the roads that led to disaster. He just didn't spend much time looking for the roads that might lead somewhere else.

And then there was Mrs. Procrastination. She was related to all of them. Mrs. Procrastination was always planning to do something. Tomorrow. Maybe next week. When the time was right. She was especially close to Mr. Overcaution, Mrs. Doubt, and Mr. Worry. Together, they could keep almost anyone from taking the first step. The six of them had lived in Noddynuff for so long that most people didn't even notice how much they listened to them.

Then, one day, a traveler arrived. Her name was Miss Enthusiasm. Miss Enthusiasm had never been to Noddynuff before. She walked through the town and looked around. She saw houses. She saw businesses. She saw people working. She saw people helping one another. She saw ideas. She saw possibilities. And she saw something else. She saw plenty.

But when she talked to the people of Noddynuff, they told her she was wrong. "There's not enough," they said. Miss Enthusiasm was confused. She looked around again. "What isn't there enough of?" she asked. The people had answers. There wasn't enough money. There wasn't enough opportunity. There wasn't enough security. There wasn't enough time. There wasn't enough of this. There wasn't enough of that.

Miss Enthusiasm listened. Then she noticed something strange. The people weren't simply living with less. They were living as though less was all they could ever expect. They had begun to believe that Noddynuff was the only place to live. So Miss Enthusiasm decided to take a closer look.

She visited Mr. Indifference. He told her there wasn't much use trying. She visited Miss Indecision. She asked what she wanted to do. Miss Indecision couldn't decide. She visited Mrs. Doubt. Mrs. Doubt gave her plenty of reasons why things wouldn't work. She visited Mr. Worry. He told her everything that could possibly go wrong. She visited Mr. Overcaution. He showed her every hole in the road. Finally, she visited Mrs. Procrastination. Mrs. Procrastination told her she would be happy to help. Just not today.

Miss Enthusiasm began to understand. The people of Noddynuff were so focused on what they feared losing that they could no longer see what they already had. Their fear had become a way of seeing. And the more they saw, the more they feared. The more they feared, the less they tried. The less they tried, the less they believed was possible. And so they stayed in Noddynuff.

Miss Enthusiasm knew she could not simply tell them they were wrong. So instead, she showed them. She helped them look at what was actually around them. She pointed out the things they had stopped seeing. The possibilities. The ideas. The people. The work. The relationships. The things that were already there.

Slowly, the people began to notice. One person saw something they had overlooked. Then another. Then another. And something changed. The fear began to loosen its grip. People began to remember what it felt like to want something instead of only worrying about losing something. They began to imagine. They began to act. They began to help one another. They began to see the person standing beside them not as someone who might take what little they had, but as someone who might have something to give.

The energy of the town changed. And when the people looked around, they realized something that had been there all along. They had been living in a place filled with more than they thought! So they changed the name. They no longer called it Noddynuff. They called it the Town of Plentee. The town itself had not magically changed. What changed was what the people could see.

And perhaps that is the strange thing about Noddynuff. You may not always know when you are there. You may recognize Mr. Indifference in yourself. Or Miss Indecision. Maybe Mrs. Doubt has been sitting beside you for a while. Maybe Mr. Worry has been talking so loudly that you haven't heard much else. Maybe Mr. Overcaution has convinced you that the safest thing to do is nothing at all. Or maybe Mrs. Procrastination keeps promising that tomorrow will be the right day.

And maybe some of these people don't live inside your own head at all. Maybe you know them. Maybe you work with them. Maybe you love them. Maybe you hear them every day. They may mean well. They may truly believe they are protecting you. They may genuinely believe there isn't enough.

But be careful about how much time you spend listening. Because it is possible to live so long in Noddynuff that you forget there is another town nearby. A town where there is enough to begin. Enough to imagine. Enough to try. Enough to love. Enough to become something more. A town called Plentee.

And sometimes, the hardest part isn't finding the road there. It's noticing who has been quietly convincing you not to take it.

Amanda McKeen is a Littleton-based writer, business owner, and host of North of Normal, a radio show and podcast exploring the people, places, and ideas that shape life in New Hampshire’s North Country. Listen to Amanda read her columns aloud, and find past columns and episodes at clearviewadvantage.com/podcast.