Page 229 - Free the Idea Monkey

For the Idea Monkey, a second quote rings true as well. This one
by a really lucky fellow named Albert Einstein: “The most impor-
tant decision a person will make is whether they live in a friendly
universe.”

You read earlier about the two shoe salesmen in a third-world
country. After two weeks of selling, one complains that nobody wears
shoes, the other sees that everybody needs shoes.

It seems that any situation can be interpreted as a wonderful
opportunity or a tragic burden. These types of interpretations are
happening every day all around you. Guess what?
The lucky ones see opportunity where the
unlucky ones see a problem. Said dif-
ferently, if you complain a lot, you
probably aren’t that lucky. On the
other hand, if you are always making
lemonade out of lemons, our bet is that
people see you as really lucky. If you
want to reduce it to a formula, it would
look like this:

BLESSINGS
In 2002, I lost a great friend to cancer. I will never forget picking

him up just after he finished another round of chemo. It was sum-
mertime and I noticed Al was tearing up. When I asked him if he was
in pain, Al said, “No, the truth is I was just smelling the cut grass. I
didn’t think I’d ever get to smell cut grass again.”

To this day, I am grateful every time I smell cut grass.
From my experience, innovators are curious, hardworking and
grateful people. They make their own luck through hard work and a
healthy outlook. They savor and notice things that most of us take
for granted. They literally stop and smell the roses and often thank
God that they still can.
As a teammate, I try to attract, coach and encourage this kind of
person and behavior. As a dad, I do a bit more.

214 H O W T O W I T N E S S S E R E N D I P I T Y