Burned Out Light Bulbs - Grasshopper

The older I get, the more I appreciate Thomas Edison's approach to invention: Taking note of what doesn't work and moving forward.

I once jokingly asked radio listeners to send me their burned out light bulbs because I was building a photography dark room in my basement. I got three parcels of burned out bulbs in the mail and two of the senders didn't know I was kidding.

 

To me, ideas and actions that don't work are burned out light bulbs. Why hold on to them?

 

The answer I come up with is we don't recognize they're burned out. Part of that is due to the conditioning we received that says we're not trying hard enough. So we continue down a dead end, exasperated that it's leading nowhere.

 

I actually think men are more prone to this than women. Yesterday, I attempted to close my card door and it didn't shut. My first response was to slam it harder. Luckily, before I did that, I got the gift of awareness that my seatbelt was in the way and I properly put it back in place and shut the door with ease.

 

Men seem to continually run at walls harder when they don't break down on their first try. Women, by and large, only have to bounce off once before looking for a different route.

 

One way to get to recognition quicker is to get hoping and wishing out of the way. Hoping and wishing have the same result of going to see a movie for the second time expecting a different ending.

 

A question periodically to ask yourself is: "What am I doing that's not working?" Then just pause and wait for an answer. There is a part of you that knows what's not working. You just have to seek its counsel more often than you do. That's when light bulbs will start lighting up for you.

 

All the best,
John