If I were to put a bunch of apple seeds into your hand you would probably get a picture of what could be produced from them. The same is true if I filled your hands with turtle eggs.
If I were to put the seed of a human into your hand, try and think of the possibility!
We look at the Japanese bonsai tree with its artistic, dwarfed size and shape and admire it. Most of humanity has gone through an unseen process like the bonsai tree. Humans have been restricted, confined and twisted to a shape of another’s liking. It could be religion, family criticism, personal inferiority and fears, or the example of others that has made you feel dwarfed and twisted, but Jesus came to set the captives free! Each of us has an ability to dream of the possibilities in our future. It is a risk to go beyond the parameters, but no one will ever know how high you can grow until you allow yourself to reach! God has put a future in you that reaches into eternity. Stretch for it today!
Here are some soul-searching questions to direct you toward discovering both the talent you possess, and the talent you are willing to pay any price to develop!
First, ask yourself the all-important purpose questions.
What do I want to do? What am I passionate about? What brings me joy and fulfillment? Am I living my personal values? Sometimes your very first thought is the answer you have been seeking! Liberate the idea that’s in your heart! Write it down! If you do, you will discover that with a little attention the idea will grow!
Belva Davis, the first black TV journalist in the Western United States said, “Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.”
Second, ask the vital “What If” questions to expand your horizon. What would I attempt if I knew I couldn’t fail? Most talent remains undeveloped on the trash heap of If only I had…tried that new job, achieved that degree, written that book. What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail? Think about it. Document your thoughts. Raise your expectations and dare to dream the impossible! You can get out of the box! God-given talent and desires have been placed within you to impact the world for good!
According to success coach, Brian Tracy, “the key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire, not things we fear.” These ‘what if’ questions will help you identify your fears and expand your boundaries! President Franklin D. Roosevelt is famously quoted as saying, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Third, ask others their perspective to gain insight.
Who knows you better than your family and closest friends? Ask a friend, family member or co-worker what they perceive as your strongest characteristic, special gifting or unique ability. Write down the names of at least two people you can consult with.
Self-awareness is having a clear perception of your strengths and your weaknesses. You might be surprised at what you discover when you give others the permission to speak into your world! Remember: People pleasers will tell you what you want to hear. A true friend will tell you what you need to hear!
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why don’t I have the talent I need? If I did, I’d accomplish my goals much faster!” However, I’ve discovered that talent is never enough! I was reminded of this during a long writing session preparing for my training seminars. It just seemed that though I loved writing, if I were really good at it I would do it much faster. But I have learned in over 25 years of inspiring spiritual leaders, business people and the general public, that there are no short cuts in life! Only determined, hard work focused on a quality outcome with intentional effort will produce results that set you apart from the pack.
What is hard work? It’s not just lifting a 100-pound package or moving a pallet of bricks with your bare hands. No! It is the discipline required to remain focused and meet your deadlines. Movie producer Stephen King says, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
What is a quality outcome? It is creating something worthy of your approval, knowing that you gave it your very best! It is working and re-working that piece so it stands out above the rest. It is being willing to re-edit, again and again, your thoughts and dreams! It is raising the bar and setting your goal even higher when you think you’ve already finished!
What is intentional effort? It is deliberately putting your energy levels to the test when your body, your mind, and even your friends say, “Ah, you can finish tomorrow,” or “is this really worth all the effort?”
Tomorrow I will be asking some “Soul-Searching Questions” that will direct you toward discovering both the talent you possess, and the talent you are willing to pay any price to develop!
Why do you create? When do you create? What do you create? How do you create and where do you create? Answering these questions can ultimately alter your attitude toward creativity!
Creativity requires both inspiration and discipline. Today we will be looking at some questions for you to consider. Take a sheet of paper and jot down your thoughts and responses:
First: Why do you create? What is your purpose? Do you create for the applause of the crowd? Or to be the center of attention? Certainly, the attention will fade and focus will be redirected towards someone else.
Second: What are your creating? This is where your project begins and where practicality adds definition to your creativity. Value your ideas. Record your thoughts. Celebrate small milestones! Go to my Live Your Dream series to help YOU further develop your dream!
Third: When do you create? Many people wait for a moment of inspiration to create. Professional writers know that each day they must create. Professionals work to deadline – NOT to pleasure!
REMEMBER: You create the habit and the repetition forms the creativity. Ask yourself what habits of creativity work best for you? Do you find yourself most creative in the morning or in the evening? The Bottom Line: Know your own body rhythms and develop disciplines that support your creativity!
Fourth: How do you create? Ponder these questions: Are you an avid reader? Do you enjoy researching your subject? Get busy absorbing and discovering ideas for your creative passion!
Fifth: Who helps you create? Do you work best when collaborating with others? Does a team stimulate your creativity? What talented individuals have you included in your creative process?
Sixth: Where do you best create? To answer this question let’s briefly review our CULTIVATE YOUR CREATIVITY series:
Your Environment can stimulate Creativity: Your 5 senses are a great gateway for creativity!
Adversity can be a Catalyst for your Creativity: Remember, having problems is not the issue, but thinking your life should be without problems is…
Next, recognize that the Power of a Positive Thought can open your future to bright possibilities!
Acknowledge that Creativity Is a Cognitive Thought Process: You can develop discipline of thought to master your creativity.
Remember: Stimulate Your Creativity to ACTION. A sense of urgency will motivate your creativity! Times of crisis can cultivate your creativity!
One of the real challenges that stands as a mountain before a person is the delay of their dreams. It is difficult for people to deal with time, they expect solutions instantly. They want it now, not five minutes from now!
This time expectation is most acute and unique to American society. They are inventors of fast food because it is believed that fast is always better! Now, let me help you understand time. God has no time frame that controls Him. The whole spectrum of time is always laid before Him, so He does not experience time as a limiter.
Faith is what He has given us to enter into the reality that He lives in.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith is the quality of a human being that allows us to see and be happy about our answer now. We are not waiting for the physical manifestation to be happy, or fulfilled, or confident. We enjoy what we believe as if we had the things we believe for now in our possession. What does this do for us?
It puts eternity into our heart!
What we have received as our inheritance from God is ours right now. Get happy about it and you will see it!
Scripture: Hebrews 11:1
For nearly a year, Magda Herzberger struggled to survive the daily terrors and psychological torture in three of Adolph Hitler’s concentration camps. According to the Grand Canyon University interview, though forced to “gather corpses,” she resisted the draw of suicide and instead relied on God for the hope to outlive the Nazi death machine.
Growing up in the home of a respected international businessman, Magda was exposed to music, sports and languages, learning German, French, and Latin. She was cultivating her dream to go to medical school when the Nazis swept across Romania.
She vividly recalls the day the Hungarian Secret Police knocked at the door and began collecting families at gunpoint. As her family was being trucked away, her father arrived home and willingly joined them. She remembers her father’s warm tears falling on her head, as they were being transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. She can still hear the dreadful cries and hopeless whispers of strangers packed into train cars without food or even a toilet for the terrifying journey.
Magda said, “Regardless of what I experienced in those camps, and all those terrible things, I’m still a loving and forgiving person.” I would ask, how can it be possible to remain a loving and forgiving person after being kidnapped, tormented, imprisoned and forced to watch mass murder? As she prayed in her silent moments in the camp, Magda knew in her heart that God could help her make it out alive. She said, “I think my great trust in God was my source of survival.”
What is hope? Hope is the picture of the future or the thing desired. The dictionary says, “it is a wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.” Robert H. Schuller, said, “Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”
For Magda, her hope in God—her confidence that He would help her stay strong through the storm—gave her strength for her journey. I want to encourage someone today, do not allow anyone or anything to steal your hope! Magda Herzberger went on to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor, and today at age 89 she is still sharing her story of hope in the midst of tragedy. You can experience that same hope today!
Let’s continue looking at two more ideas to cultivate your environment for a creative miracle:
#3 Cultivate your faith! Faith often defies logic and requires that we trust like a child. Faith is not foolish or arrogant, nor does it tempt God. Faith believes that God is not a man that He should lie. Therefore, faith takes God at His word.
The Holy Scriptures say that without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.
#4 Cultivate an awareness of Christ’s presence. Multitudes of people live in environments where they lack work, proper health care and money. In this environment the creative compassion of Christ shines!
Jesus was not just an ordinary man with healing power, He was God in human flesh. He was our model for life! He showed us how we can do the works that He does. Just like the little lad, bring what you have to Jesus and let HIM multiply it!
Scripture: Hebrews 11:6
Only one miracle is recorded in all four gospels authored by Jesus’ closest associates. The miracle of the five loaves and two fish is called a Creative Miracle. Five thousand men and their wives and children were fed from a young boy’s lunch. When Jesus saw that His vast audience was hungry, He told His disciples to feed them. The perplexed disciples timidly offered the one creative idea before them—a young lad’s lunch. How do we cultivate the environment for a creative miracle? Over the next two days we will look at 4 ideas to get you started:
#1 Cultivate your curiosity! How? Curiosity is defined as a desire to learn; a spirit of inquiry and an interest in others. I believe this miracle appears in all four Gospels for two reasons: first, a child with very little to offer took interest in others. Second, these gospel writers participated in the miracle themselves. As Jesus multiplied the lad’s lunch, their curiosity and interest compelled the disciples to participate in God’s creative miracle! Could it be that simple curiosity is the creative pathway to your miracle?
#2 Cultivate a lifestyle of participation. Allow yourself to get involved with God’s creative process. In this account, a seemingly insignificant child solved a crisis for 5,000 men plus their wives and children. A young boy with only his lunch! Could it be that this kingdom belongs to the children, as the Bible says, because children have the potential to receive all the possibilities that God offers?
Scripture: Matthew 14:15-18, Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:5-13
I remember one of our events just north of the Arctic Circle in the city of Murmansk. A hockey rink had been secured for our conference. The main speaker had only one request—that we never put him on a platform that didn’t allow seating directly in front. When I arrived at the venue just hours before our opening, I was horrified to find that not one chair had been placed in front of the platform!
I had less than 2 hours to find seating, and the owner of the stadium was not in the mood to help. Glancing at the platform, I saw dozens of risers stacked to the side. Seeing my solution, I directed the workers to distribute the risers across the open floor. The audience quickly filled them up just before the speaker arrived.
The owner of the stadium was so impressed with our innovative thinking that by the next morning he had filled the floor with hundreds of chairs free of charge! His comment was, “if these people wanted seating this badly, I was determined to give them the best!”
Remember: Sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution!
If you look on the outside of my passport you will see that I am an American citizen; however, when you look inside, it becomes obvious that I am a citizen of the world. And frankly, I have earned each nation stamp, as each culture has indelibly etched its image upon my soul! Whether I experienced success or failure, often in many of these nations a sudden crisis brought out my highest level of creativity! I am a richly woven tapestry of possibility thinking! And you can be too!
First, SPEND TIME WITH CREATIVE PEOPLE. Whether you are at home, school or busy at the office, spend time with “creatives.” These unique souls have practiced the art of turning chaos into beauty, and problems into possibilities. Maya Angelou says, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
Second, LOOK FOR THE OBVIOUS. As the old saying goes…sometimes the answer is right under your nose. In other words, you don’t always need a creative idea—sometimes you just need to choose the most practical or obvious solution.
Third, BE UNREASONABLE. Always give yourself a minute to think! Think beyond what you consider logical!
Fourth, PRACTICE MENTAL AGILITY. Being open to spontaneous thought is key to cultivating creativity. I dare you to break free from the rigidity of common thinking and everyday expectation! INNOVATION IS INSPIRING!
Fifth, SEE PROBLEMS AS OPPORTUNITIES! Creativity is fueled when you replace the word problem with opportunity! ‘Opportunity’ is that moment when you decide that no opposition, poverty, or weakness can hold you back!
