Posts Tagged ‘Creativity’

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Breaking Out-of-Your-Box

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

More and more of us are being defined by the limiting parameters we set for ourselves, what is commonly know as “a box.” Our challenge as humans is to figure our how to “break-out-of-the-box” that supports creating the limitations in our lives, the box that holds us back as individuals, communities, and countries.

Breaking-out-of-the-box is about stretching your limits and facing those things that hold you back.

Our patterns of judgment–fear, not being good enough, and control–are only a few of the pieces that make up the box we create around ourselves.

If we sit back for a few seconds and think about the idea of a box, we might see that some of the greatest discoveries in history have been uncovered by individuals willing to take a risk and think outside-of-the-box.

To break-out-of-the-box we need to be open to change, to be willing to look at the boxes that we create for ourselves, and then be willing to face them head on. Once we face them we need to take action to move out-of-the box, which means doing what we have not wanted to do in the past.

Everyday is an opportunity to use your creativity, imagination, teamwork, positivity, logic, and passion which, when engaged, will enable you to increase your ability to live a life with more purpose and meaning.

Reclaiming your childhood vision is one of the best ways to start breaking out-of-the-box. In so many cases we have forgotten how to play, imagine, and even worse we have forgotten how to be ourselves.

Thinking with childlike vision is hard work and takes courage. In many cases it means you may have to sacrifice long held beliefs, paradigms, to gain new perspective.

Take the risk to step out on a limb and to be different than others and to challenge your thinking and your beliefs. This will enable you to “break-out-of-your-brainwashed box” into “out-of-the-box-thinking!”

Breaking-out-of-the-box takes practice, patience, constant attention, and a deep desire to be the best you can be. You can do it!

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Believe and Trust in Yourself

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Inside of you is the ability to do and accomplish the most remarkable things. Anything. Everyone, no matter if it is Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, George W. Bush, or The Grand Lake Bum, is just like us. They too have to put their pants on one leg at a time.

Some people may have more resources, some may have less, and some may have none. Nothing changes the truth that we all have the capacity to achieve great things if we desire and are willing to work hard enough to make our dreams come true. You can do and create anything you can image if you put your mind to it and believe in yourself.

“People become quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves, they have the first secret of success.”
Norman Vincent Peale

What is it that holds many of us back from doing and achieving the things we want in life? Is it because we are scared to fail? Is it because the goal is perceived to be too much work? Is it because we don’t believe we can do it? Or perhaps we are scared of success?

This can be on of the trickiest parts of life’s success. When we are young we are all told “NO” a lot, “You can’t do that,” or the ever-popular “It will never work.” This kind of messaging is pounded into our brains so much that many of us start believing in our heart of hearts that we can’t do what we know we CAN do. As adults we perpetuate this undermining messaging, telling others that they can’t do something, all because of our programming as children. Following this negative and unproductive line of reasoning for yourself will only result in achieving far fewer meaningful accomplishments in your life than if you choose to live a life of “I CAN do anything!”

“Life begins as a quest of the child for the man and ends as a journey by the man to rediscover the child.” Lauren van der Post

Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable!

The challenge is to find the courage not to be influenced by the naysayers and believe deep down inside that you can accomplish anything no matter what people might say.

What if the Wright Brothers had listened to all the people who said, “You’ll never be able to fly.” Instead, they chose to believe they could. When you are able to believe that you can do anything, it does not mean that your life will result in instant accomplishments. Success comes in small steps, in small accomplishments that eventually add up to big accomplishments, big successes. It is said that every overnight success takes 20 years. The Wright Brothers had to work very hard and experiment many, many times along the journey to human flight. They never ever gave up and continued believing they could and would fly. Just like the Wright Brothers you have everything you need inside of you to reach your dreams. It is never too late to start.

“Every achiever that I have ever met says, my life turned around when I began to believe in me.” Robert H. Schuler

In so many cases people believe that they will not succeed even before they start something. What a travesty. Instead, create a mindset of expecting success even before you start. All achievers, no matter what their game, start with the expectations that they are going to succeed. Achievers say, “I want to do this and that I CAN do this,” not “I would like to do this, but I don’t think I can.”

What do you think about yourself and your abilities?

Say you CAN and you WILL. Say you CAN’T and you WON’T. This is a universal truth we can’t hide from.

Try this. Next week become a Possibilitarian and say YES to those things that the week before you said NO to. Say “I CAN do this”, “We CAN do this” and see what happens.

You CAN and WILL do what you think you CAN.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Living Life

Friday, August 1st, 2008

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Just suppose you were living life exactly the way you have imagined you want it to be. What does that look like? Are you traveling around the world? Are you swimming with dolphins? Where are you living? What kind of car are you driving? How are you helping the world? Are you taking time to just be? Are you creating that piece of art you have always wanted to create? What kind of career do you have? How are you spending your leisure time?

“Prepare your mind to receive the best that life has to offer.” Ernest Holmes

If you are already living your life exactly the way you have imagined it, congratulations. You are among the select few in the world who have achieved such bliss in life. For the rest of us who continue to dream about a life still not fully achieved there is hope. For each new day has the potential of opening new doors of possibilities. The key is to stay optimistic even through the dark times, the times when our path to living the life we know is possible is shadowed by the daily challenges of living.

It is easy to gain enthusiasm for a dream in the short term. It is a very different thing to remain enthusiastic for that dream through the passing of time. Creating and living the life you want and imagine takes time and hard work. Very few things worth obtaining in life are easy to achieve. This is why so many people fall short, giving up and settling for what is instead of what can be. Don’t let this happen to you. You have too much to give back.

When you stay optimistic you are able to see the doors of possibility opening up in front of you. You are able to go through these doors and explore the possibility to see if this new opportunity supports you to live the life you have imagined and are supposed to live. You will start to see your continued perseverance begin to pay off. Each day you make choices that either support your drive to live the life you dream of, or work to hold you back from living that life. We all need to be vigilant to keep the daily stuff that fills our lives from taking over and limiting our ability to see new opportunities.

Just living in today’s “super human” environment is enough to drag anyone down. When you let skepticism and pessimism take over your state of being, you derail your efforts to living the life you have imagined. I have met many people who have let the challenges of living take over and suppress them from becoming what they know they can become. They have given up and, worst of all, in many cases only complained about their situations as if they had nothing to do with it. They did and you do too.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Suppose for example, that you are making only the best choices for your life from this point forward. What choices will you make? Who will you choose to hang out with? Who will you choose not to hang out with? What health choices will you make? What will you choose for your life?

I suppose life is a journey of ups and downs, highs and lows. It is how we choose to respond to these highs and lows and ups and downs that allow us to appreciate the highs that much more. Sometimes this may mean taking a day as a do over or just going to bed, looking forward to tomorrow and a new day. When you are able to focus on the positive even during the times when your path to living the life you know is possible is shadowed by the daily challenges of living, you are on your way to making the most out of your life and the life of those around you.

“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.” Anon

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Have You Hugged Your Barn Today?

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

As humans we have more in common with each other than some people might realize. We all need to get at least 5 to 6 hours of sleep each and every night. We all need to eat food and drink water if we are to survive for very long. Every one of us has something that we are passionate about, being passionate is something that we all are born with.

One of my greatest passions is an old barn. I love them, hug them, collect them, dismantle them, and I creatively adapt the barn wood for new purposes. Right now I am taking old wood flooring from a barn that had a previous life on Patricia Island and I am now transforming the rare material into a bar top in my downtown Tulsa loft. Looking at the old and visualizing how I can transform it into something new is one of the ways that I explore and use my creativity.

What are you passionate about? What do you hug?

“Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

My passion for barns was not something that I was aware of until I moved to Grand Lake. I discovered this passion quite by accident. One day when I was driving through the back roads of Grand Lake I passed a barn that I had admired for some time. It had a lot of character and I often wondered what stories it could have told of times past. That is why I was horrified to see that it was on fire. My heart raced as I drove straight to the barn and started pulling its smoldering wood out of the flames. I wondered why this wonderful barn wood was being so carelessly and permanently destroyed.

It was at that moment that I discovered a new passion within myself, a passion for barns and barn wood. I became a barn hugger. The important thing to remember is that things you are passionate about give you clues to better understanding and living your purpose in life. This was the first of many barns that I began saving and salvaging before they could be burned to the ground. They became one of the cornerstones of my purpose, which is making a positive difference and showcasing what is possible.

“A hug delights and warms and charms; that must be why God gave us arms.”
Author Unknown

We all have something we are passionate about enough to hug. What is it for you?

Dismantling and salvaging old barns is hard work, I mean really hard work. The first barn I dismantled was in Jay and I had no clue what to do or where to start, muscling the barn siding off with a crowbar was time consuming. Bugs, snakes, wasps, and heat made the work more challenging to say the least. I did not know what I did not know. I was fortunate to be able to enroll others into my vision and with their help figure out how to accomplish my goal of salvaging barns.

No one said that what you are passionate about will be easy or that it will not take effort to achieve. I could have chosen to throw in the towel and let my passion for barns go away. I could have let the hard work win. I could have given up and let my passion burn like the barn I found on the side of the road. Instead I persevered, because I felt passionately about my desire to salvage old barns and I could see how this was tied to my purpose. I now have over seven barns worth of wood saved from the flames of destruction, dismantled, stacked, and ready at anytime for a new life.

“Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.” Amiel

Many of us identify and feel our passions, it is only natural, and then we do nothing with them. We do not take the next step which is to follow the passion and let it take us on a journey to a new place, a place where we can discover something new about ourselves and move closer to reaching our full potential. Many of us stop when we experience the passion and we run from the feeling. Your passions are what it is all about. Take them by horns and run with them. Nothing could be more important than to live your passions. You can do it!

In my life I have many passions and I work to fulfill and feed each and every one of them. Some are more challenging to fulfill than others and some are yet to be discovered. One thing is for sure. Being passionate about following your passions is one of the most important ways to make the most out of your life.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.”
Harold Whitman

Have you hugged your barn today?

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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232

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

If you are like Mike Long, Brian Ruth, and many of the other folks on Grand Lake, Independence Day means it is time to celebrate the day our country came into its own by blowing some *&%$@ up.

Nothing else can excite the soul like a great fireworks show. With this in mind it is not surprising that Americans import over $200 million worth of fireworks from China each year. It would not surprise me if at least 1% of those fireworks will be exploded right here on Grand Lake. Love it!

This year we will celebrate the 232nd anniversary of our founding fathers signing the Declaration of Independence. This act set the original 13 colonies on the road to national sovereignty and laid the foundation for the lives we enjoy here in America today.

“I am whatever you make me, nothing more. I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become…. I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution. I am no more than you believe me to be and I am all that you believe I can be. I am whatever you make me, nothing more.” Franklin Knight Lane

In 1776 we had 2.5 million people living in our newly independent nation. Today over 300 million people are living in America. The incredible growth that has taken place only highlights how much things have changed in such a short period of time, 232 years. Our founding fathers were wise to create a Constitution that is not only very complex, but at the same time broad in scope. The foresight of these men gives us an opportunity to interpret the greatest law in our land in a way that is adaptable and relevant to our changing nation. The choices that we make today will determine whether or not our country will be able to provide a healthy and meaningful environment for future generations of Americans and set a continued example for the rest of the world.

“My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!” Thomas Jefferson

When Benjamin Franklin was helping to shape the Constitution he could not have known that we would become the greatest military force on the planet. That we would put a man on the Moon, and, at the time of this writing, analyze in real-time minerals and soil on Mars. How could he have known about the Internet’s ability to share information at the speed of light? It took Ben over three months traveling by sea to get a message to France.

Thomas Jefferson could not have foreseen that the average American would be producing 52 tons of garbage by the time they reached 75 years of age in 2008. In his day people bought their food in the local market often packaged in materials that could be reused for quilts or clothing. Back then people traveled days or perhaps weeks by horseback, stagecoach, or train. The idea that over 28,000 planes would be flying through the friendly skies each day taking people all across this country and around the world and would be using over 2 million plastic cups every 12 hours was out of the realm of possibility.

James Wilson could not have conceived that Americans would drink water from over 2 million plastic bottles ever 5 minutes since water in those days was pumped from wells in and round their towns. He could not have predicted that we would be using cell phones to communicate with each other in real-time anywhere in the world, disposing of 426,000 cell phones every day so that we could keep up with the modern technological advances of the day. Communication in those days was by horse messengers like Paul Revere and mail took weeks if not months instead of days to arrive at its destination.

John Adams would have been laughed at if he had suggested that Americans would shop so much that they would go through over 60,000 plastic bags every 5 seconds, or that office workers would print over 15 million sheets of paper every 5 minutes of every day.

Things have changed a lot since the Declaration of Independence was signed 232 years ago. The amount of change that American has experienced in the past 232 years is phenomenal. What is even more amazing is the fact that in the last 40 years there have been more changes than all the changes that took place before the late 1960’s. This is a wake up call to the level of accelerated change that we can expect to see going forward in the months and years ahead.

“Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.” Peter Medawar

Our country has been an inspiration to the rest of the world. We have inspired a world to live the American dream, a dream that has fueled some of the greatest inventions and a spirit of giving that the world has never seen before. We have promoted this dream and excited countries and people worldwide who want what we have been so good at creating. Think about China for just a minute. At the current rates of purchasing there will be 1.3 billion cars in China by 2015. To put this into perspective there are only 800 million cars operating in the entire world today. It will take half of China’s rice fields to be turned into roads to handle this number of cars, and India, with its 1.1 billion people, is working just as hard to capture and live the American Dream.

We are blessed to live in this country, and with these blessings come the same kind of responsibility and influence of our founding fathers. If we are to leave an America to our children like the one we have experienced we are all going to have to change. Besides taxes, change is the only thing we can count on for sure.

This year as you are watching the fireworks bursting in the sky over Grand Lake think about the kinds of changes you would like to create to insure a healthy and meaningful life for you and that of others in your community. You have the power within you to do anything to which you set your mind and heart. You have unlimited potential and so does America!

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Author unknown

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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The Game of Life

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

As children growing up, we all learn how to play with one another through games, all kinds of games. I can remember playing flashlight tag with the other kids in my cul-de-sac. Monopoly was the most popular game with my family on rainy days. Candy Land was another favorite and then there was The Game of Life. I can hear the wheel in the middle of game board spinning right now. Where it lands nobody knows. Growing the biggest family, securing the best career, buying the house on the hill, all while avoiding the pit falls of playing The Game of Life.

If only playing the real game of life was as easy as the board game. How do you play the game of life?

“Life’s not always fair. Sometimes you can get a splinter even sliding down a rainbow.” Cherralea Morgen

Growing up I was never taught how to play the game of life. In fact, I have rebelled against buying into this game and instead created my own rules. I have experienced this game as unhealthy and full of low integrity people serving themselves before others. By creating my own game on the sidelines of the larger game, a kind of ghost in the machine, I have been able to excel with an “out-of-the-box” way of life that has served me well. At least, that is what I have thought. I have been proud to be an example of someone who has not played the game and been able to succeed in life against all odds.

Looking back on my childhood I can see that everything I needed to learn about playing the game could have been learned from my time in the sandbox. We had to share the toys that were available to us. Collaboration was necessary for those in the sandbox to get along and create something. When a bully would take a toy or your sandwich you had to decide to fight or flee. The interactions that took place in the sandbox are a great place to reflect upon how to play the game. What happens between childhood and adulthood that we loose these lessons?

“As we struggle to make sense of things, life looks on in repose.” Author Unknown

As I have become more motivated and focused on sharing the power of What Box? and have been consciously living it, it has become clear that I not only have to start playing the game but embracing playing the game. This is a major challenge. How does one step into the box, yet remain out-of-the-box and keep their sanity? Sounds like one of those wise sage questions that have no answer doesn’t it?

How odd, that to support people, organizations, communities and corporations to think more out-of-the-box you have to step into the box and play the game. This is the way it is and to create a meaningful impact in people’s lives it is critical to become a champ at playing the game. I have been in awe and at the same time in contempt of people who can play the game with great ease.

How can we learn to play the game even better and still remain unique?

“Life is not a final. It’s daily pop quizzes.” Author Unknown

I don’t even know how to fully enter the game. Is there a starting point? Did I miss it and now am I in the middle somewhere on the game board? How do I catch up? What are the rules and who created them? Is there more than one game? Is there a get out of jail free card? Do I get to pass Go and collect $200?

I believe the challenge is to stay conscious of the fact that we are all playing a game, while staying true to our values and mission in life. It’s kind of like standing next to yourself watching and reminding yourself not to take it too seriously and have fun while playing. Aren’t games supposed to be fun?

Like so many things in life and written in What Box? it takes tremendous practice to achieve the desired results. I have a feeling this one is going to take the rest of my life to figure out. I guess we all have to figure it out for ourselves.

“To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach.” Havelock Ellis

Playing the game is part of life. We can embrace it or repel it. Which will you choose?

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Fisherman Wisdom

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

It was another majestic morning on Grand Lake as I walked down stairs into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. The birds were singing at an extra high level, the squirrels and chipmunks were running around with great joy, and the mist coming off the lake was so thick you could not see the water. The rising sun shinning through the mist created unique streams of light that swirled about as the subtle wind moved the mist. It really was enough to take one’s breath away.

I headed outside, lit a fire in the fire pit on the banks of the lake, and took in the beauty and wonder of the morning. The fire was starting to roar and the cup of freshly brewed coffee tasted especially good. With the thick mist and my attention on nature I did not even notice that there were fishing boats trolling along the banks of the lake. As the mist began to lift, it unveiled almost seven bass fishing boats in the hollow and fishermen fishing their hearts out.

At first I was saddened by the shear number of fishermen in the hollow taking away from the magic moment of nature awakening. There clearly was a fishing tournament taking place and my hollow was a target to catch the big one. The fishermen on Grand Lake and I have a tenuous relationship to say the least. Between the trash that is left behind in the water and banks of the lake, many fishermen’s disrespect for nature, and the noise created by their boats, a few “rotten apples” have really tarnished my perspective.

With this in mind I decided to take some of my own medicine and move into a What Box? way of thinking and being about my uninvited guests in the hollow. I thought about what a privilege it is to be able to awaken to the morning on Grand Lake, and I sat down to observe what all the excitement of fishing on the lake was all about.

“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” Abraham Lincoln

Having grown up fly-fishing for trout in California and Oregon, I at least had some level of understanding about the level of excitement generated by a fish taking hook.

As I sat by the warm fire sipping my coffee I, became aware that I had never noticed the wisdom of fishermen, that of having patience. I mean a lot of patience. All the boats moved slowly along the shore as the fishermen were casting and casting and casting and casting their lines as they were looking for the big one to bite. In some cases they would sit in one spot for extended periods working a spot in hopes of landing their imagined fish.

This got me thinking about what a different world it would be if these same people applied the level of patience and persistence to their lives as they do when they are fishing. Every single one of the fishermen was in a state of ultimate patience and seemed to be very peaceful as they fished away the morning. When one boat would leave, another two or three would take their place bringing fishermen who joined those already fishing the hollow, settling into the same attitude of patience and peacefulness as the fishermen who were already there.

“This would be a fine world if all the men showed as much patience all the time as they do while they’re waiting for fish to bite.” Vaughan Monroe

What I realized is that these fishermen were focused on what they could do to improve their chances of catching the big one and not necessarily on the outcome. They were interested in improving their cast, observing the way their bait was moving in the water, and learning from what worked and what did not work in the pursuit of catching a fish. Their patience during this process of discovery was amazing to observe and something we can all learn from.

In real life we seem to forget that patience is a key to success in life. We are impatient about almost everything today. In our instant gratification lifestyle things cannot get done or be done for us fast enough. We set unrealistic self-imposed timetables on our lives that only work to increase our impatience and frustrations.

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” John Quincy Adams

Things were not always this way. In a time when we had to hunt for our food, we needed to use our instincts of observation, curiosity, attention to detail, and unrelenting patience if we were not to go hungry. These were the characteristics of humans in the early days. Today we appear to have lost the ability to be patient. If this is true, how can we reclaim this important skill?

Maybe, just maybe, the bass fishermen of Grand Lake have touched onto a way to reclaim the art of patience. The question is will they be able retain this patience as they lift their boats out of the water and carry on with their lives? What a different world this would be if we could have the patience of the fishermen that I have observed.

Fishermen wisdom, their interest and patience in learning to improve their skills to become the best fishermen they can be, has something to teach us. What kind of activity can you do that would inspire more patience in your life?

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

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