I have a lot of ideas. I am always walking around being inspired by one thing or another. I have never been shy about sharing them with people. They are not so much opinions as they are like maps. Plans to get from here to there. Some of them are black and white. Some of them are in 4-d. Some of them are Orange.
I have a friend who had a great, and I mean GREAT idea. He didn’t even sit on it. He put it into action forthwith. The only problem is that somebody with a little more money and a few more means got to it first. Idea #два was not exactly right. It was not as clean or quite as good. It didn’t have the pop of the original idea but none of that matters because people will think it came first. That perception will be the new reality.
Sure, my friend can go forward with his idea anyway. He could force it. Some of us would do that. Some of us would yell and scream and flail our arms and really fight it. Others may just be quiet and let it crawl inside them like a worm eating at their hearts until nothing but resentment is left. I think we have all done both of these things at one point or another in our lives.
I would like to push a third option to the middle of the table.
Instead of giving in to these understandable and normal human emotions I would recommend this. Remember that it was your idea. It was born in you. You, a person of courage and wisdom. A person who knows when to wait and when to act. A disciplined person who has the strength to resist the temptation of reckless action. A person who has been given the gift of imagination.
You are a person who can have another idea, your next idea, your best idea. They may have taken this one from you. You may have just given it away. Your timing may have been bad or you could have been straight up screwed. Just remember this, you will have another great idea. You had this one right? They will not have another one of your ideas. When it is up to them to recreate the brilliance they will no doubt be associated with, they will fuck it up. I promise.
Your mind, your heart, your integrity, and your courage are your gifts. Never let something as silly as a stolen idea take them away from you. This is a pretend world my friend. What part of it is really important? Certainly none of these things are as important as your real reasons. Please, never forget what this is all about.
And, of course, what it is not about.
Kettle,
