Brad Baggett of Juice of Champions recently tagged me in a new meme about thinking differently that was started by Peter at I Will Change Your Life.
It took me a while to get around to it because I wanted to make sure that if I got involved, I’d be bringing value to the readers of Adversity University. Memes are a great way to build community and link love both of which are perfectly wonderful and valid reasons to start one. However, there are some out there that I perceive as nothing more than empty vehicles focused solely on bringing the originator a lot of link love in the hopes of building traffic and more subscribers for their sites.
Don’t get me wrong. Memes are a great way of fostering interaction among readers and new visitors. I even attempted a hand at it with “Secrets of Dealing with Adversity” several months ago. It was a modest success and I’m even thinking of bringing it back now that the community at Adversity University has grown larger.
But I still have to ask the question: “Does it provide value?”
With the “Think Different Challenge,” the answer is a resounding YES. I believe it fits in perfectly at Adversity University. If each and every one of us took just a minute to change our way of thinking, the world would be in a much higher state of vibration. There would be less hate and prejudice, not to mention drama, stress and greed.
According to Peter, we are free to write whatever comes to mind as long as it has something to do with thinking differently. We are also left with the freedom of either tagging specific people to participate or making a blank statement of invitation to those who wish to join us. I choose the latter. For more information, check out Peter’s Think Different Challenge.
If this meme is of interest to you and you have a blog, then by all means please consider yourself tagged by me at Adversity University!
Without further ado, here are 3 ways of thinking differently:
Be Open to New Experiences: Don’t be stuck in a routine – do something absolutely outrageous once in a while. Many years ago while living in New York City, I decided to do something crazy one Saturday morning. I was out for a stroll with a friend. Weekend traffic had slowed to a trickle. We were in the middle of crossing Fifth Avenue when I suddenly looked both ways, dropped down and proceeded to make an imaginary snowman on the asphalt, screaming, ”THANK YOU GOD FOR EVERYTHING!” Har, har, har, was that quite liberating!
Perceive every single person as having a divine mission: You cannot tell why others are here on this planet but they, including yourself, are destined to carry out a special role. Next time you see a person with a disability, (perhaps someone like Nick Vujici who has no arms and no legs), instead of feeling sorry for him, why don’t you see him as an instrument of God, teaching all of us lessons about perserverance, overcoming adversity and the awesome power of the mind? A homeless person? My goodness, instead of spitting in disgust at the smell or sight of one, why not see him as an angel in disguise, reminding you to get out of the “God, my life is awful!!” club?
Want to be more centered, calm? Imagine yourself as the center of a record. The grooves encircling you represents life’s major challenges but there you are, in a calm state of mind, totally unaffected by everything swirling around you.
Two weeks ago I was volunteering my time on a church community project. A ton of unopened boxes were strewn everywhere. Adding to the mix were a couple of volunteers rushing around like mad, loudly barking out ideas for all to hear, telling others what to do and unraveling hours of hard work previously done by others. Needless to say, this brought on a lot of unnecessary tension. In the past, I would have gotten caught up in the drama. But at one point while unpacking a box, I took a deep breath, shut my eyes and visualized being in the center of that record. In my mind’s eye, I was enclosed in a protective bubble to ward off negative energy. Then I took it one step further and imagined those volunteers as children of God who were simply all excited and meant well.
The result?
I got through the entire evening in a state of unruffled grace! It was exhilarating – you should try it. (Photo Credit: Bear Clause)
Food for thought: What are the ways you can think differently today?
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12:49 pm on November 17th, 2007 1
Dear Stephen -
My best friend had a child, Steve, who was mentally disabled.
He was a savant in that he could tell you the baseball averages for every player from the early 1900′s!
He used to write Mike Ditka every week and analyse every play the Bears did and Mike told me once when I met him he took Steve’s advice very seriously. He even wrote back to him.
But Steve could not tie his shoes or make change.
In spite of that he was the top salesman in the gift shop at Lambs Farm. No one could resist him because the was pure love.
I believe many disabled people are really angels sent to help us appreciate our life and the gifts we have.
That includes you, Stephen! I consider you one of my angels.
Love,
Corinne
3:31 pm on November 17th, 2007 2
Corrine:
Well, you know what? I see you as an angel too! There are no accidents on this planet and for those of us who are aware, this is LOA at work here. Thanks for the inspiring story of Steve, the mentally disabled boy who expressed nothing but pure love. Wow. Amazing.
Thanks for sharing. The boy’s story complements the article very nicely – everyone is here for a purpose and perhaps Steve’s purpose is to shine the light of pure love to show people what it really looks like. Those who see it are blessed. Those who don’t are not ready yet.
2:33 pm on November 18th, 2007 3
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3:18 pm on November 18th, 2007 4
Stephen,
Well I’m glad you did decide to participate in the Think Different Challenge because you have written a great article that perfectly captures its spirit.
I particularly like your idea to perceive every single person as having a divine mission. When I see someone with a disability I tend to feel sorry for them. When I think about it, though, where is the good in me feeling sorry for them? I guess you (and Corinne – great comment) have helped me to think differently
ps I have added your article to my list
3:37 pm on November 18th, 2007 5
Peter:
What a delight to find you commenting here as a result of my participation in your blogging meme! I’m glad you enjoyed my little list, especially the part about seeing everyone as having a divine mission.
It really puts things into perspective, doesn’t it? It is for this reason I learned long ago to accept my hearing disability. Once I realized my mission was to take my gift of articulate speech on the road as a professional speaker, I knew right away I was born deaf for a divine reason. It changed my whole outlook on life.
Thanks for stopping by and of course for adding my article to your list at your site. I appreciate it.
7:29 pm on November 21st, 2007 6
Stephen,
I am very glad you decided to participate in the challenge. I too, have had my doubts about many memes and the value that they bring to our subscribers and readers. When I read Todd’s article though I knew I had to join in the Think Different Challenge. Your article fits the theme perfectly and is an outstanding piece of work!
http://www.JuiceofChampions.com
9:46 pm on November 21st, 2007 7
Hey Brad:
Thanks for inviting me to join in on the meme. I had fun with it. It was interesting to take a trip down memory lane and recall that day when I suddenly dropped on the pavement in the middle of Fifth Avenue just to do something outrageous! You can bet I received a few incredulous stares that day. Har, har, har, har. What a moment in time…..
7:08 am on June 5th, 2008 8
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12:40 pm on January 21st, 2009 9
I found Corrine’s story above very touching. Child poet Matti Stepanek shared that same view as long as lived to the ripe age of of thirteen. He died from a rare form of muscular dystrophy. yet, during his brief physical lifetime, he touched the hearts of millions with his love and ability to write. He reminded us of our own power to connect with people. It is very useful to teach ourselves to think differently than society would condition us. We benefit from learning to “think outside-the-box.”
6:17 pm on January 24th, 2009 10
@ Liara Covert:
Thinking outside the box is a challenge for a lot of people because of years of conditioning from society that includes our parents, teachers, authority figures and others. This is why I call it an awakening of sorts when we start to break outside that box and think in other ways.
What’s funny about all of the ideas and thoughts I now have is that I got them from reading countless books over the years. I didn’t accept everything I was reading but if something touched me deeply and resonated with my soul, I adopted them as my own truths.
Like for example, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the “Matthew Messages.” In short, you can google it and find your way to the website, but Matthew died in a car crash as a teen. His mom struggled with his death for years until fourteen years later he began to communicate with her. The result is a long list of messages from Matthew.
Now, this might strike some people as “crazy” or something can’t be true. The same can be said for his messages that are communicated to his mother to write. When i came across the messages, my soul was deeply, deeply stirred and touched. I ended up reading all of the messages until there were no more to read!
Because I felt so deeply stirred, I adopted many of the “outside the box” thoughts in the messages because I already “knew” them to be my own truths.
1:57 am on February 23rd, 2009 11
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