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.
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