Shake the box

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When I was a kid it seemed like the only thing I ate was box serial. I know it was different but that is how I remember it. We all had our favorites and took full ownership of them. I can remember making my choices based on the little prizes inside the serial box. Sometimes we would dig all the way through the box to find it first or we would wait till the very end and shake it out with the final bowl full. Every time we would go to a ball game we would get one box of cracker jacks and we could hardly wait to see what the prize was. The treats were good but it was the hidden surprise that we all anticipated the most.

I think that we are all like this, except the hidden treasure is in you! I think you would be surprised, if you shook things up a little bit, what you might find. If you have the courage, I would like you to challenge yourself to make uncomfortable demands on yourself and see what surfaces. A friend of mine took me up a steep incline the other day that eventually turned into a rock-climbing scramble. Suddenly I found myself in a position that going up or down was a very scary move. I was paralyzed on the side of this mountain but knew I had to find a way. I watched them as they went through this area with so much ease I soon found myself in motion. Needless to say I made it through and the fear was actually completely in my head and unnecessary. If you will take the plunge and shake things up a bit you will find talents and traits that you have never believed in before.

I recently took a trip to Costa Rica where I realized that the only language spoken was Spanish. 20 years ago I studied Spanish in high school, but I was shocked at how much I could recall when I really needed to. Last week I was with my mom and she was having some computer issues. I was able to diagnose it and fix it all for her. I had no idea I knew anything about debugging computers but I guess I do.

We all have many hidden talents in us but perhaps we get stuck in doing what we know instead of digging for new ways. Most people get stuck in the familiar. Are you? Do you need to reinvent a few areas in order to break free? If you are a strong list maker why don’t you become an initiator and start doing instead of planning? If you are a very intellectual person why don’t you play dumb and work to accomplish things by connecting deeply with people instead? If you are a very serious person why don’t you focus on being really fun or if you are the life of the party why don’t you try being the serious one and see what happens? If you are dependent of others why don’t you try to be totally independent for a bit or if you are totally independent why don’t you switch it up and evaluate what gifts you might find?

There’s more in there folks, I guarantee it! Shake the box a little, get uncomfortable and develop new strengths. Snow board with your other foot forward, eat with your other hand, learn other forms of communication like signing or brail. Say hi to people you would otherwise walk by. Hug instead of shaking hands. Switch it up and see how alive you feel. Just the increase in your heartbeat and brain waves is worth the exercise in itself.

I am proud of you, expand your gifts, break free and lets go heal the world.