In the end, the only things we can be truly proud of exist through servanthood.

Easy is only valuable if you can work out a way of selling it to others; “Six simple steps to the life you’ve always wanted.”

Otherwise easy is seldom valuable.

Difficult, on the other hand, often is.

Imagination and creativity are essential human attributes but they take time and effort to develop.  For whatever reason, they’re not part of our educational curriculum.  Instead, we recognise these to be characteristics of some and not of others, a school report perhaps spotting, “Freda shows great imagination” … “Kofi is extremely creative,” when we ought to be asking of everyone else, “Why is their imagination and creativity being held back?”

None of us knows everything there is to know.

Admitting this opens possibilities of discovering some new things and some new things about old things.

The Scientific Revolution began when some people admitted, “We do not know.”  Officially ignoramus, they began discovering all kinds of things that have changed our understanding of being human and our universe.

I don’t doubt that some will look back on us from a future two hundred years away and see those who admitted afresh that they are ignoramuses, opening new and new-old possibilities we cannot even imagine this morning.

One of the things that has changed is the way we can all be part of this journey with imagination and innovativeness.  There’s never been a better time not to know.

There are alternatives to journeying great distances for an adventure.

See more deeply.

Imagine the future and bring it back to the present.

The benefit is, adventures are there every day with those around us.

Or the gilded cage?

We used to have dreams and then they turned into something else.

Sometimes that something else turned into a nightmare and we wish we could wake up.

Stories come to our rescue.  Telling us this is not what you think, or this could be something else.

We’re surrounded by stories – movies, songs, poems, novels – but lack the most important one.  Our own.

We know a story is good when it’s dramatically unfolding, when the characters deepen and change, when they fight for what they hold dear.

Then it’s our turn, to fight the good fight for our dreams.

The understory is what’s really happening beneath the surface of a story.

All the best stories have them.

For us, it’s the purpose we’re striving to connect to.  On the surface of our lives there are unsatisfying answers.

But beneath, there are the questions that are about life itself.

Change is here to stay and it’s getting faster.

The faster things move, the more collisions are likely.

The fast has already disrupted the slow – the things we don’t believe we have time for any longer.

There is another way: disrupt the fast with the slow.

Take the time to know and develop who you are.  The same with what your contribution is while you are here.

It’s never one or the other, it’s always both.

This is stick or twist revisited.

Are you all you can be and therefore stick?

Or, are you more than you are now and so you twist?

Some people have an investment in you sticking.  It makes them look better.  The thing is, they are sticking too.  They need people around them not to push on because they can get away with what they always have done.

For the person who realises there is more to them than meets the eye – there always has been, it’s just a case of noticing more your talents, your passions, and your life experiences (which is about story)  – and explores this, they’ll discover they’re more adaptable, better learners than they thought, can come up with ideas that matter to them, and do something about these.

Life is open to everyone.

You have to notice your deep breaths, the beating of your heart.

Only you can reach for the path with a heart and take the next step.

Unless you have cultivated the distance and avert your gaze.

I came upon these two thoughts on opportunities, the first from Hugh Macleod, the second from Seth Godin:

‘We can only accomplish something when we feel strongly – and there is no feeling strongly without feeling fear.’*

‘[Opportunities] often come enshrouded with hassle, perceived risk and the need to overcome inertia.  It’s easier just to say no.  What happens if instead of ignoring opportunity you triage it?’**

The funny thing is, the more we say yes to the right opportunities the more opportunities present themselves.

Seizing the right opportunities builds personal capacity, as when we’re faithful to building something with who we are ad what we have, we build perseverance: the capacity to thrive in pressured situations.

Another dynamic being increased is our freedom to act, meaning when a great opportunity comes along we have taken the time to build our capability and we can act.

To act is to see abundance – we are more than enough, as opposed to scarcity – we are not enough.  A simple triage for whether we should take this opportunity is made up of experience, talent, and passion or dreams:

What are our important past experiences?
Do our talents offer themselves to this opportunity in the present?
Is this something we are passionate or dream about for the future?

All of these add up to; We do this because it matters.

(*From Hugh Macleod’s gapingvoid.)
(**From Seth Godin’s blog Opportunity Triage.)