Inspiration 365 Days!

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An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He had been a fine craftsman building many houses over his career. All the house owners were proud to live in the beautiful houses he built.

The carpenter told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business. He wanted to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. Sure he would miss the paycheck each week, but he had some savings and the children were all grown up. They would chip in so he and his wife could get by.

Give thanks. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Invite someone for dinner who would otherwise be spending the holiday alone. For each family member, press a dried leaf and write a word of thanks with a permanent marker. Donate your extra groceries to a food bank that serves needy families. Interview your neighbhors about what they’re thankful for, create a scroll from their responses and hand out a copy to everyone. Dedicate the day to truly give thanks and embrace each encounter as an opportunity to express kindness.

— Random Kindness Idea

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• Donate your professional clothes to an organization that helps people get back into the workforce.
• Give gently worn home furnishings or household appliances to a person or family who might need them or donate them to an organization.
• Take warm clothes, blankets or food to a homeless person that you often cross paths with.
• Donate toys and books to a homeless organization. Toys and books are just as important to kids as food and shelter.
• When shopping, buy a couple extra non-perishable food items and take them to a food drive or pantry.

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It’s better to be idiot than to pretend wise.

— Unknown

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Never ask God to give you anything; ask Him to put you where things are.

— Proverb from Mexico

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In any type of art, there are artists and their creations that can be one of two things for us. These things are complete opposites and each make us act a certain way.

1. Inspiring - This is exactly how you should interpret good art. When you see an amazing drawing or listen to some incredible music, you should be inspired by it. That should then motivate you to work harder to create art at the level of your inspiration.

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One day a father and his rich family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family.

When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“Very good Dad!”

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.

“Yeah!”

“And what did you learn?”

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The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

“There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.

“One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.

“Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.

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Distant water won’t quench your immediate thirst.

— Chinese proverb

In your last Successful Marketing Strategy I wrote about creating a fundamental checklist of success by using Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich as a template.

A second type of checklist to construct and use is what I call a ‘Practical Creativity Checklist.’ There are a number of methods for rearranging the existing and old into the different and new that actually account for most innovations in the world. There may not be anything new under the sun.

In a later I’ll talk about Disney. Disney is often called the ‘Inventor of the Theme Park’ but actually he changed the amusement park. Now here are some of the things that belong on this practical creativity list.