Options

“Options are worrisome.” _Unknown

“There’s nothing new under the sun.” _Ecclesiasters 1:9

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Have you ever been at a family gathering or hanging out with some friends and tried to decide where to eat?

Throwing out a few options is like putting sand in your motor, progress is stalled almost immediately as the group wades through all those options (adding a few more as they go along) trying to get a consensus on where to eat.

Ever seen a kid on Christmas day with a boatload of gifts under the tree? Like a one-armed man trying to put out a fire, watch them frantically wade through unwrapping all those presents. Give them about 30 minutes (no more than an hour) and pretty soon they will look around with a bored look and begin complaining about having nothing to do.

That same child, sitting in church will find a piece of paper on the floor, maybe a button or a piece of lint, and thrown in the inkpen from the back of the pew and they can play happily for an hour.

Somehow we have the idea that more is better. We want choices, options, and alternatives.

But the truth is, more usually weighs more (unless you are a feather salesman) and requires more.

“Thinking outside the box” eventually requires building another box to put all the new ideas in.

You know what really helps foster creativity? Taking what you’ve got and figuring out how use it to get where you need to be.

The ONE THING for today: I hope you get more (if that is what you need). But the reality is all you’ve got now is what you’ve got now. All the complaining and hand-wringing about what you do not have won’t change a thing. All the wishing and hoping for something more won’t help a thing. But taking the resources and personnel and talents that you do have and figuring how how to use them to take the next step forward…now that is creativity and a sure path towards progress.