Life today can be so blinkered, so by the book, we follow like lost lambs rather than lead, reinvent and make new paths and new rules, we seem to have become scared of our own shadows and scared of our own potential! Is it so bad or so radical to make a choice based on common sense, a gut feeling, a passion, a burning desire and the most important: a dream or a goal? What is the worst that could happen?
Allow me to give you an example; I had a fantastic time with my daughter in a pub not so long ago playing Trivial Pursuit, (Another resident of this fine establishment sat watching
Keith Lemmon and “Juice” on his I-pad so it must have been a cool place!) she thrashed me (This only underlines the fact that she got her intelligence from her mum not me!)
At the conclusion of the game Rox wanted Ice cream, (three scoops!) After the normal Dad - Daughter Ice cream consumption debate had come to a conclusion (This was not a unanimous agreement) I (Not we) agreed on two scoops not three, one scoop for Rox was never to be an option, In other words I gave in and met her halfway, two scoops it was to be!
The menu clearly stated that only one or three scoops were available, Rox used some common sense and drew on 4 years of hard work in maths and worked out the cost of two scoops which impressed me much as doing "Thirds" was way outside my mathematical spectrum, even for Ice Cream! I was proud that she took it upon herself to think outside the box or in this case, a menu!
I ordered the ice cream from the lovely lady who worked behind the bar, her reply? "Sorry we only do three scoops or one scoop! I asked if she could do two, she said they only do 1 or 3, she was not to be shifted on the "Ice cream rules of the house" To save my daughters ensuing sugar buzz and because I am a little weak I ended up having two scoops for the price of three! Yep I had to pay for a scoop I never had! Why? Because that was the rule and nobody was budging on the fundamental issue of there not being a two scoop option and to be honest a debate on a scoop of ice cream was not worth my energy nor the barmaids!
The point of this is we seem in this world today to have lost all perspective of thinking outside the box, to considering the risks, to challenging ourselves to make "Choice" on free will, to bend a rule, to just do something that feels "right" We seem nowadays to be so scared of our own shadows and those we work for we are slowly disappearing up our own arses, controlled by others without any belief in ourselves to make a choice or simply go it alone. I like the saying “Feel the fear and do it anyway!)
Greatness comes from those who step outside the box, make new paths, challenge the rules, stick their heads above the parapet and stand up for what they believe to be right, the list of great names is endless but every single one of them stood out because they were brave, passionate, fearless and more importantly didn't define their life on what others thought! They believed in themselves, followed their gut instinct, embraced their passion and walked through fear and criticism! What happened? They became legends, history makers, idols and inspirers, we read about them, talked about them, emulated them, inspired to be them, we had heroes, role models and excitement filled our hearts and souls that maybe, just maybe, one day we could be as great, inspiring or thought provoking!
Life HAS to change, if even just by a tiny little step! To change today for our future generations is the key, the youth of today HAVE to be inspired, they have to have role models, they have to be able to look up to someone or something, they have to be allowed to express, discover, reinvent without critism, ridicule or doubt. We, the adults have to embrace their ideas, be excited they thought outside the box, we have to stand back from our own fears and barriers and be inspired by youth, we HAVE to otherwise we're all going to wonder round doing whatever the manual tells us and what a truly dull world that would be, what a "Grey existence!” If we don’t start to inspire by change we will slowly become the sheep that follow, uninspired, disorientated and soulless, we will just keep doing what everyone tells us!
Life is not always great, not every day is going to be an amazing day and when the days are hard and sometimes dark We HAVE to stop blaming everyone and looking for scape goats we HAVE to start taking some responsibility for us, our families and our future. Stand up, be counted and inspire, doing something good, look into ourselves and lead not follow, own the day and own your destiny.
It was only one scoop of ice cream, but it says a lot about where and what we COULD be turning into!
As adults we have a huge responsibility to let our youth, our next generation, our future expand, reinvent and prosper because one day one of them will lead us and with a glimmer of hope and a good wind hopefully that person would have taken comfort, knowledge and strength that one adult in their life said, “Throw the rule book away and serve as many scoops of ice cream as you want!”
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