Tag: thoughts

Afterthoughts- My Best Ideas Come to me in the Shower

       All of the books I write end with a chapter titled— My best ideas come to me in the shower. Obviously, this is not completely true. I get them driving across the beautiful Colorado Rockies, falling asleep at night (I have a pen and pad of paper on my nightstand), and in conversation with other people.

       The point is that these seemingly random thoughts eventually begin to weave a tapestry of life-reflections.

       Hewlett-Packard ran a TV ad series that imaged people driving, or sitting in a conference room, with the musing — What if…?

       My best ideas come to me in the shower will be a compilation of the various What ifs? I’ve experienced throughout my life. From the earliest years of gusto & immaturity through more seasoned times of reflection, following great successes and atrocious failures.

       Let’s start with a basic one. When do you think about YOU? Where you are in the process of becoming who you are today? Unless you’re 14 you are already on the journey that counts your contributions to life. Or, you’re not one given to personal philanthropy; more often that not, it’s what you can get out of life that is most important to you. And that’s not de facto wrong. But if it’s exclusively your goal in life…, well, you might want to consider that.

       In my cozy widdle shower, I’ve often wondered if my life has made a difference. In giving to others I have received so much back. God has truly honored me so many times. Monetarily? Not so much. But we’ve always had food on the table (great food), gas in our car, and a bed to lay our head on.

       Back to our basic question, What makes you, you?

       To answer this question you might best think through the different phases of your life and the characteristics of each. This will create the essential brushstrokes that describe you in the various changes you experience in your journey.

       I’ve gone through so many phases that I have imagined a maxim —

God is full of surprises! Don’t trust Him.

Of course, that is said tongue-in-cheek. The point being that in investigating who you ARE, God will surprise you with who He is.

       So take a risk! Start to explore YOU. Great amazements await.

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! ©

Gary

Imaginations Interrupted

beehive, dream, buildingA dream without a plan is just a fantasy. Of course it is. But what if there were no dreamers?!? Only doers, implementers, builders, & technicians? What if people simply stopped dreaming? For the most part, I believe very few of us dare to dream; even fewer of us turn our dreams into reality.

To dream is to see beyond your present situation and to guess at what might be the next thing, or, to create the next thing from the fragments of your present circumstances. Synectics [the bringing together seeming dissimilar ideas or trends], is where tomorrow’s geniuses, entrepreneurs, and inventors are today. Think Sticky-notes, Velcro, Styrofoam and Scramjets.

We need people who Imagine, who think outside the box, whose perspective is so radically divergent from ours that it is hard for us to grasp.

Sadly, a lot of imaginative thought is initially discarded as wacko or liberal or ridiculous by those whose job is to guard and maintain stability and the “Truth.” The world is, after all, flat. And of course there are only five senses. Or, do you know that our solar system now has new outer borders? Millions of miles past where we thought our solar system ended.

I often tell people, God is full of surprises: get used to it. The extents of His grace and miracles can seem magical at times, far beyond what we ever dreamed.

So, to the world of the pragmatists and the cautious I say, dream a little more. You have no idea what you might light upon.

And to those who always dare to dream, keep at it. But, please, team up with those who can put feet on those dreams and make this world a better place. Don’t let everyday demands and concerns overpower your dreams. If they are interrupted, they may never fully return to you…, and we all lose.

For what it’s worth,
  Gary