Yellow Balloon


I held so tightly to the string, my nails dug into my hand. It was my first floating balloon and I was so happy watching that yellow orb bouncing along against the Midwestern blue sky. I was determined to keep that balloon in my hand, despite the breeze tugging at it.

Then my worst fear happened—the string slipped out from under my fingers. The balloon began to ascend. My stomach felt the despair and then lifted for a moment as the bouncing balloon hit the top of the porch ceiling. Maybe I could catch it…then it broke free into the air and began sailing away.

I watched it as it shrunk into the sky, smeared in my vision with tears.

Now, all these years later, I see that I was looking at my lost balloon all wrong. Sure, I lost the balloon, but how many other people could look up and watch my yellow treasure float up into the blue expanse? How many spirits did it lift that day?

Ideas are like that balloon. When we get one, we are elated. For some of us, we want to squeeze that string so hard we bleed. We’re afraid—afraid of losing it…maybe to another person or maybe to the breeze. Our first instinct is to put it somewhere safe. But what if I did get the balloon safely to my room? It would have floated for a little while on the ceiling and then slowly sunk to the floor. Wasn’t the destiny of my lost balloon so much better? Think of the heights it achieved!

Your idea doesn’t have to be limited by your ceiling. If you are generous with it and share it with others, it may touch the clouds. Ideas only get stronger as you share.

That is what Generous Mind is all about—releasing ideas that resource the world. We don’t want your ideas locked in your mind. We want them to count.

Be brave. Open you fingers. Let the balloon go.

Comments