Inventing Advice

“Whenever I saw problems and I saw things I didn’t like about the world and I would complain about them, my dad would say to me, instead of complaining about it, why don’t you figure out how you can fix it” – Catherine Hoke

Inventing Advice

 Catherine Hoke, author of “A Second Chance - for you, for me and for the rest of us” is the daughter of an inventor.  Inventor!  Upon hearing the word most of us immediately envision useful devices that have improved our lives.  Catherine’s father did, indeed invent many such devices.  And, he also taught her how to invent her own life.

Her father was an electrical engineer and inventor.  When he was twenty-two, he immigrated to Montreal, Canada, as a Hungarian Yugoslavian immigrant, with two hundred dollars in his pocket.  When Catherine was seven, he moved his family to the United States when Stanford University hired him to teach there.  While living in California, he taught her to build inventions and then present a business model around them to him.  Doing so also engrained the personal skills related to inventing herself as a person.

“Whenever I saw problems, and I saw things I didn’t like about the world and I would complain about them, my dad would say to me, instead of complaining about it, why don’t you figure out how you can fix it.”  Catherine says.

“When he told me, we were moving to California I told him I didn’t want to go.  I could never become the President of the United States!” She continued. 

He answered by saying, “I’m going to give you a little time to think about that, about how you could come up with a solution to that problem.”

She didn’t really want to become President of The United States.  Her father knew that!  And, he also knew the importance of allowing her to learn and use the process of personal creation.

The process of personal creation is something we all live through.  Yet, as a process, it is something very few of us take the time to unravel and come to master.  Catherine’s father’s advice on how to become the master of this process in her own life was, “Learn how to become the best of something!”  And, he would constantly ask, “Why would you watch someone else do something when you could go out there and do it yourself?” 

He believed and taught that we are all inventors.

I’m going to give you a little time to think about that, about how you and I could come up with a solution to who we want to be. What solutions could we come up with?  What if you and I are the principal, useful resource to improve our own lives?

Not Including my Waistline!

“Sugar will last forever!” – Jeffrey Smith

Not Including my Waistline!

Jeffrey walked over to me from the front of the room.  I reached out to shake his hand as a form of welcome.  Then, with hardly any delay, he reached into his pocket and fished out a piece of candy and with smile creasing his face, he handed it to me.  “Sugar will last forever!” He said with his typical grin and shining eyes.

No!  He didn’t say that to remind me that as soon as I ate it, it would likely turn directly into body fat that would never go away.  He simply meant to remind me that it’s always best to be good, thoughtful and kind to everyone we meet because such actions last forever.  Here are a few other lasting things, related to sugar, that I’ve learned from Jeffrey.

People come from varied backgrounds but they all appreciate being treated with love and respect.  Jeffrey came to the United States from The United Kingdom.  He says, “I’m an American by choice!”  Because of his history, he has some traditions that differ a little from our local customs, but this simply adds to his personal charm.

Personal differences, such as Jeffrey’s, provide you and me with an ability to tap a diverse range of experiences and points of view that would otherwise be inaccessible.  My life has been greatly enhanced as I’ve listened to Jeffrey’s stories of school and early work days.  Because his shared experiences are so different than mine, his stories have almost become magical and intriguing tales of adventure in my mind.

Jeffrey’s stories demonstrate that warm human connections create lasting, real value.  His life demonstrates the power of creating community and kind, creative messaging between others.  Anil Dash said, “If you view community as a crowd, you’re destined to fail.”

Jeffrey’s “sugar will last forever” philosophy, champions the idea of bringing goodness to other people rather than waiting for them to come to you.  This completely flip flops the way most view life.  His philosophy, that sharing is the secret to creating warm friendships, naturally happens when you share your best self with others. It amplifies the incentive for people to contribute in return.  It creates positive, lasting connections.

As I shook Jeffrey’s hand I could feel our enduring connection.  Moments later, I was savoring the candy he gave me.  “Sugar will last forever!” I repeated in my head.  I knew then, that the taste of the candy would soon be gone, and the warm feelings of my friendship with Jeffrey would indeed, last forever. 

Tough to Define

Three bales of hay

Tough to Define

You’ve seen them, giant bales of hay that weigh one ton.  When I take a walk, I see three such bales piled together in a large field.  They’ve been there ever since the last crop of hay was cut and baled in late summer.  I’ve often wondered why they were left when all of the other bales were loaded on a big truck and hauled away to be stored.

I guess you could argue that these solitary bales are being stored as well.  And, they are.  They’re just not being stored and protected from the weather like the hauled bales.  So, over the last four or five months I’ve watched the visible exterior of these three bundles be battered by sun, rain, wind and snow.

Such harsh conditions have turned the once green alfalfa to yellow and then to their current color combination of brown and black.  It’s been a telling transformation for sure.  The once good harvest has turned into something less than nutritious and even repulsive.

Their current repellant state was confirmed when sheep turned out on the field to graze the uncut stubble and they left the bales intact, barely touched.  They instinctively knew there was no value left there.  Now the sheep have moved on and the rotting bales remain, leaving me to wonder.

I’ve been around hay most of my life so I wonder, if these bales were to be cracked would there be anything sweet, green or nutritious left deep in the center, like some rescued bales I’ve encountered before?  I wonder, because that seems to be the challenge for us, as people.  Can we be tough on the outside and unspoiled on the inside?

It’s impossible for us to be completely gathered in, to be stored and sheltered, away from life’s weather.  And, if possible, such a state would make it impossible for us to grow and improve.  Yet, there is something to be said for becoming hardened on the outside.

Being hardened on the outside means being able to be buffeted and challenged by others and still be able to stand tall and strong through it all.  It means being able to have strength when times are hard and being resilient so as to snap back when pushed.  Circumstances will cause every one of us to create a hard coat of personal protection just to survive.  And, there is a difference between being solely tough on our exterior and being dark, outside and inside.  Hopefully not one of us wants to be “rotten to the core.”

Our challenge is to be able to withstand the tempests of life’s difficulties while remaining giving, soft, and loving within.  Perhaps this is the most desirable definition of what it means to be tough as a human being.  It’s something for us to think about.

I’ll be thinking about it when I walk past those three large bales of hay again in the coming days. I’ll continue to wonder if they’re really rotten to the core by now, or if there is still good buried deep within them.  And, they’ll remind me to continuously remember the importance of being tough on the outside while protecting my giving, soft and loving part inside!