The Peanut Butter & Jelly Theory

OK...I wrote this a while ago and decided I should share it here. It's a bit lengthy and I even edited it down a bit. But it's a good theory...enjoy

Never in a million, ok a billion years did I think my life would be changed by a sandwich. But life throws you curveballs, and if you're lucky, you get a delicious nugget of wisdom tossed in there too. And that's just what happened to me...

I'd been swimming in the dating pool for a while, and was casually seeing 2 different guys. I liked both of them and had a good time with both as well. Things were going well, until guy #1 (g1) started thinking he wanted to start seeing me on a more 'serious level'. Whoa boy, I felt that twinge of oh wow this is great, mixed with the unnerving urge to run away fast and far. I had told very few people of the goings on in my personal life. But there was one of my very close friends that I kept up to date on a daily basis. He knew the in's and out's of each relationship, and my feelings about both. I was torn. I wanted to get more serious with g1, but wasn't ready to give up g2 just yet. Somehow this friend of mine managed to listen to me, really listen, instead of just smacking me upside the head like most people would (and probably should) have...hence the reason he was one of the very few who knew the whole story.

He went on to tell me that all guys, and relationships for that matter, are like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I had g1, who was kind, loving, romantic, sensitive...all the gooey stuff that chicks dig. Those qualities, he informed me, were consistent with the jelly side of the sandwich. Then I had g2, who was rough, playful, sarcastic, strong...the stuff that challenges you and makes the relationship exciting. Qualities that are more aligned with the peanut butter side of the sandwich. I, of course, represented the bread that wrapped around the combination of the two. He then asked me if I had a choice, would I take an all peanut butter sandwich, an all jelly sandwich, or would I find myself making the perfect combo of pb&j goodness. I immediately said I'd take the combo. I was then asked why I would settle for anything less in a relationship. POW!!! That simple explanation hit me like a ton of bricks. It all made sense, and I knew what I had to do.

For the next few days, all I could think about was what he said to me. I had one guy full of jelly and one full of peanut butter. I just had to see if I could find the opposite component in each one. PB guy totally surprised me by making a pillow bed in my living room floor and making a little carpet picnic for us to share. He just wanted to chill with me...Hello Jelly!!! My Jelly guy, spiced things up by out of the blue tackling me and telling me I couldn't get up, that I wasn't strong enough. He then proceeded to prove it...Hallelujah Peanut Butter!! So I was pretty much in the same boat, I just needed to wait to see if I could evenly spread the PB&J to fit my taste exactly. After a few weeks it became clear that my PB guy's jelly moments were very far and few in between, while Jelly's PB moments seemed to come more freely and often. So my jelly guy's request to get more serious just naturally happened, and PB faded into the background. That jelly guy, who's name oddly enough rhymes with jelly...Kelly, became my husband a year later.

So I now have my perfect Peanut and Butter and Jelly relationship. I've shared this theory with my husband, and the whole story with it, and he finds it incredibly cute. I've also shared it with my sister in law, who has passed it on to my 17 year old neice. She thought it was silly at first, but then she thought about, and now applies it to each potential relationship. And the friend who came up with this amazing theory...? Still one of my best buds, and still knows everything about everything having to do with me. This theory changed my life, and I will be forever greatful to him for sharing it with me. Now...his theory that the world would have no problems if it weren't for women....we're still debating that one...