Monday, October 18, 2010

What is the point of an idea?

The second most important lesson any of us can ever learn is that our minds are the playground where any and everything we want to happen can happen. I know that at one time, the people reading this wanted to be spacemen, princesses, firemen, and probably a few of you who wanted to be president. I'm sure that somewhere along the line, you told your ideas and your dreams to someone else, and they said something to the effect of, "That will never work." So in just four simple words, it's possible to crush an idea even before it's attempted. But this raises the bigger question, what is the point of an idea?

Ideas are a construct of our minds & often, the difference between its success or failure depends on if we use that idea or not. Nothing you use or buy has ever or will ever magically appear. The television you watch...started out as an idea, the computer you use...started out as an idea, and even the websites you visit were just ideas in a person's head until they decided to try them. The next big thing that everyone will want is an idea in someone's head right now.

Ideas need plans, and plans need ideas. It's a basic symbiotic relationship. You may have an idea that you decide to share with your friends and family. They may tell you that it's a great idea and you might even share it with people you meet on twitter or facebook. The setback for you now is that unless you come up with a plan of action, the only thing that you have is an idea. From here, there's one of two conclusions: either your idea is wasted and it profits you nothing, or someone else thinks of your idea or steals your idea and uses it. In the last scenario, you become one of the people who inevitably say, "Aww, I had thought of that. If only I had done something with it."

The last thing to bring up is what is the value of an idea? Every idea is both priceless to the person who thought of it, and worthless to everyone else until that idea has a physical breakthrough. So for those of you with ideas running through your heads now, I hope you start a plan for your idea so that you can make it a reality for the rest of us.

Friday, October 8, 2010

You done messed up

We are all capable of great and wonderful things, and in our lifetimes, many of us are able to achieve those things. Even with our capability for goodness, there's one thing that none of us can escape. We are all human, and therefore, we are all also capable of messing up.

Now when I say that we are capable of messing up, it's not a cop-out or an excuse for anyone to do wrong. What this means is that if we gave in to our body's desires and whims, then we would quickly and easily mess up. I can't count how many times I've personally screwed up, but I can honestly say that every time I did, I was never forced into the wrongdoing. It's always in our control to do the right thing or fall for the wrong...remember that.

The main reason I came up with this blog is because of something I read. There was a rich and powerful man who had the best of everything and beautiful women all over him. One night, he saw this gorgeous woman and he found out who she was and he found out she was married. He didn't let marriage stop him because he sent his hired help to tell her to come to his house, and when she did, he slept with her and got her pregnant. So he came up with a plan of sending her husband to the front line of a war, and her husband was killed. After that, this rich man married the woman. I can't begin to describe how many ways this man messed up.

The story I'm talking about is the story of David, but here's the kicker...David was so wrapped up in how good his wrongdoing felt that he didn't even realize he was doing wrong. God ended up sending someone to him to tell him that he slipped up and messed up. That's just how warped we get when we get caught up in the wrong thing. We lose sight of the fact that we're doing wrong, and I can recall several occasions where someone else had to tell me that I was in the wrong. Of course, the first thing I did was get upset, and I've also said, "Who are you to judge me? You ain't perfect!".

No, there is no one among us that's perfect, but if your first thought when someone tells you that you messed up is to get angry, you need to pause. Think about what they said, and why they said it. Sometimes, people will try to call you out on something just because they don't like you. But there are also times that people will tell you, "You done messed up." because they actually care enough about you to fill you in when you're clueless about how badly you're slipping up.

And when you realize what you've done wrong, "I'm sorry" is the first thing you need to say to the ones you've wronged. Just remember that it's always easier to tell yourself "No!" when it comes to doing something that you know is wrong than having to humble yourself and apologizing for the wrong that you allowed yourself to do. And if you ever need a visual reminder of what happens when you slip up, check out 2 Samuel 12:1-12. It's a lot easier to read someone else's consequences than to have to face your own.