At yesterday’s Orange Conference, I heard Clay Scroggins give a great talk on leading yourself. The big takeaway I got from this talk is the importance of balancing positivity with a critical thinking. It is important to think critically in order to make things better while keeping a positive spirit. it is a balance, much like balancing between an aggressive and passive approach in leadership. Neither extreme is helpful.
My wife and I have been reading a devotional from Mark Batterson called Draw the Circle.
I sketched my notes while she read. We took notice today about the verse in 2 Corinthians 10:5. We are surrounded by so many thoughts each day. When I’ve read this verse before, I thought about the thoughts of temptation. But Mark points out it could be all thoughts, including positive ones.
Just as we need to take captive the negative, we need to be sure those positive thoughts don’t get away either. That’s just one of the reasons I use a sketchbook. We need to grab those good thoughts before they disappear. Too many times, I thought of an idea I was sure I’d remember only to wrack my brain and wonder what it was.
I’d encourage everyone to write down those dreams and thoughts you want to remember to make them captive on a page so you can go back to them.
This is a page out of my sketch journal. This week’s word for Illustration Friday was “suspense.”
When I heard today’s theme for Illustration Friday was “suspense,” I decided I would take a page directly from my sketchbook. The word reminded me of old radio drama shows and comic books. It reminds me of a little grime and notes taken on napkins. Something seedy is going on when there’s some suspense!
I’m taking a short break from the tutorials to catch my breath. My son graduated from high school this last Sunday. It’s been crazy, to say the least. We’ve been driving all around the countryside to celebrate at open houses. Indiana and Ohio roads have become quite acquainted with us.
I drew this sketch when I thought of how silly caps and gowns look to kids. Isn’t that the way things work? At one time, a cap and gown look so dignified. And I would say even today, if you know what they represent, they look dignified. But to a child, or someone who is comfortable with the extremes of casual fashion, they can feel quite silly.
Graduation is a time we celebrate accomplishment and the next step in a person’s journey. Like those cap and gowns, it can feel uncomfortable, even silly as we take the next phase of life’s journey. Can anyone remember the first day of school? It wasn’t a relaxed, comfortable day for me! Yes, I felt silly and awkward. How about your first date? First kiss? How about the first time you held a paying job? They can all be awkward, silly feeling times.
That’s why feelings betray us. We need to strive to make it through those clumsy times, knowing there is a goal we are striving to reach. I smile when someone says they don’t want to try something because it doesn’t feel right. When I hear that, I try to remember ANY time, I felt comfortable trying something new.
So here’s my graduation speech for the class of 2011: When you go out to the real world, you may feel wobbly, like a newborn animal. You may wonder if what you’re aiming for is right because it just isn’t coming easy. Hold on! If you have a God-given dream to do something, know it may not come easy, it may feel weird at first, but pursue it anyway. Once you get pass the awkwardness, you can toss your cap in the air and graduate to the next level in your life.
Congratulations, class of 2011! (And congratulations, Garrett!)