“If you want to build a boat, do not instruct the men to saw wood, stitch the sails, prepare the tools, and organize the work, but make them long for setting sail and travel to distant lands.”
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry
Happy Monday!
I hope you had a relaxing weekend. These days, it’s tough, I know. But we really do benefit from taking a bit of time to refresh and self-reflect. It doesn’t have to be an extended amount of time; it should just be dedicated and intentional so we can create space for imagining.
Over the weekend, I spent some time imagining. It was fun to engage in some out-of-the-box contemplation. I don’t think we do enough of this in our everyday adult lives, and I strongly urge us all to make it a practice. We get stuck in the mundane mainly because we don’t make time in our busy schedules to look for more.
Making the effort to dream again opens our minds to new pathways. The benefits are evident in all areas of our lives. Our problem-solving skills increase, we’re able to hold tension between emotional tugs, our mental acuity increases, and we expand our capacity for joy.
My favorite benefit from imagining is when we bring others along with us in the quest for more. It happens when we need something new ~ a new concept to develop a project further, something more to revitalize an existing product or plan, or even a new pathway to reach a mind that’s dissociated or group who’ve been marginalized. The possibilities are limitless. When we trust our complex internal systems to keep us safe, we can invite those parts to show us new ways and ideas to solve old problems or create new avenues for exploration. It’s all about how we change our perspectives to curiosity and wonderment.
I have always loved the novella The Little Prince. It’s rich in imagination and has some great concepts to embrace. The author, Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, was an early 1900s poet, journalist, and writer. Following are words he penned about imagination:
Ahh, the beauty of poetic thought! Many of us would be wholly preoccupied with the logistics of acquiring the materials, prepping for the deadline, creating a project board to make sure we’re on track with targeting interim dates, organizing the team after having gathered the most able workers available, and arranging time-sensitive updates for all concerned. We’d be buried in the mire of details.
But De Saint-Exupéry doesn’t go there first. He looks at motivating through imagination. He paints a picture of a destination that appeals to the sense of freedom, adventure, and purpose while preparing for the hard work ahead. The author whets the appetite for more, which probably increases productivity significantly. I don’t know about you, but I would have been excited to start the project, even though I knew the work would be taxing!
There’s a story in Scripture when Jesus walks on water. The disciples are in a boat, the wind is fierce, and they get scared. Suddenly, they see what they think is a ghost, but it turns out to be Jesus. Peter becomes bold, and here’s what happens:
“And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:28-31 (NKJV)
In a blog post from Life For Leaders last week, the author suggested that Peter had faith, but his fear took over, and he began to sink. I happen to subscribe to this notion and find it interestingly supportive of my thoughts for today. Peter let himself imagine the possibility of walking on water to meet Jesus. He thought outside the boat, so to speak, and made a valiant attempt to try something new.
The very cool piece in all of this is that Peter knew Jesus wouldn’t let him drown. He could take creative license and imagined a scenario where he could do something superhuman, knowing full well that his Protector would save him no matter what happened. He painted a picture for himself, gave it a shot, started to sink, and still succeeded in doing something almost impossible. How fun it is to think of doing the same!
We may be burdened with a thousand things this week on our to-do list. There may be times to deal with mundane tasks, but there may also be times to imagine something new. Make time to explore a new way to build a boat, step outside the boat, or switch to another form of transportation altogether. Have fun with your imagination, and you may discover building a boat can fulfill a dream!
Be Well & Be Blessed!
Lucinda
