#4. If you’re not thinking outside of the box, you’re living in a very small place.
As a child, the world seemed so big and never ending. My dreams were more like goals. Anything seemed possible. I didn’t hope to achieve them. It was only a matter of how and when. I had nothing to compare them to, no similar situations to remind me of what could go wrong. There were so many options, so much to see and do, so many places to go.
I listened.
I observed.
I believed in many things.
Then something happened. It’s interesting that as I grew older, my mind began to filter out ideas that didn’t seem as logical or achievable….as least not to me, anymore. Reality shoved it’s way into my tranquil, sunshiney space, ready to rain downpour on my parade, with a few too many “in your face” experiences of loss, disappointments and heartache. I was angry, resentful and mostly, just sad.
Later on, I think reality had overstayed it’s welcome. I was tired of what I had to do, what I had to face, how I had to live my life. It wasn’t until I was 40, that I found my youth again. The doors flung open and I emerged like a giant clumsy child.
I’m baaa…aaack!!!!
Who says I can’t have fun? Who says I have to do things a certain way? Who says I have to get old? Who says people are everything they seem. They are not. I was ready to explore again, but this time a little bit of knowledge came along with me. That can be useful. I was ready to let go of everything holding me back and move forward “into the great wide open” as Tom Petty puts it. The biggest surprise to me was how happy it made me.
The more open I became……
the more I listened,
the more I observed,
the more I believed.
How familiar that feeling was!
We were born with open minds. It is not our experiences that close our minds. It is our reactions to our experiences that close our minds. There is no right way of doing things. There are just many ways of doing things. That’s what makes people interesting. That’s what makes LIFE interesting.
Take a look at the Grand Canyon. You cannot see it’s boundaries…..the never ending space that beckons you to think past what is in front of you.
Think past what you know or where you have been.
Stay open. It’s fun.
mishunderstood 