As I wrote about and responded to big ideas today, I had to ask myself the question, Do your big ideas match your performance?
If you live or work with me, you might say no as you would be someone who knows well my longest of shortcomings. I'm the first to admit that my actions trail my vision and not the other way around. I can see far more than I can do, and sometimes a vision that arises does not translate into action for years.
Yet I think it's important to embrace my way of being as long as I'm truthful and honest. Yes, I am a big dreamer who loves to entertain big ideas for all aspects of life. As I say often, I see limitless potential and promise and can think of thousands of solutions to the world's issues and write about those solutions with detail.
Yet as one brother always cautions me when he says, "Ideas are cheap, it's what you do with them that matters."
I respond to that brother with a yes and a no.
Yes, it does matter that one truly forward ideas when and how she can. For example I have to continually work at my language, processes, and actions to forward ideas I see as promising and fruitful at school. I've yet to find the golden path of idea-to-reality path at school though some of the ideas I've forwarded on my own and with others have translated into betterment. I will continue to use school, home, and community as places to forward good ideas into meaningful action. This is good work that teaches me well and helps me to contribute.
I say not to my brother, however, when it comes to only sharing ideas that you have the capacity to turn into reality. I've actually had the experience of sharing a good idea with people who either made it happen or tried to make it happen. I believe a good idea not expressed or shared is a good idea wasted. Just think about it. If you share your wild and crazy, but good ideas, you could actually improve someone's life--people don't have to take your ideas, but if you have a good one, I say share it. The more positive, imaginative, and creative ideas that are out there, the better the chances we'll solve some of the big and annoying problems we face.
So to answer my initial question, I would say that my ideas don't always match my performance as my ideas vastly outdistance my capacity, but that's not going to stop me from sharing ideas as well as working on the ones that I feel passionate and capable of forwarding. What about you?
