Containers

From Lou Tice:

I have a question for you today. How big is your container? You do have one, you know.

Years ago, a farmer brought an amazing pumpkin to a county fair. It was big and orange, in every aspect a perfect pumpkin. But it was the exact size and shape of a two-gallon jug. After it had won a blue ribbon, someone asked the farmer how in the world he had managed to produce such a wonder. He chuckled a bit and said, "Shucks! Wasn't anything to it! Soon as the blossom started to grow, I just stuck it inside a cider jar and the pumpkin took care of the rest." If you think I'm kidding, just check out the square watermelons available later this summer!

Just like that pumpkin, the shape of your life is determined by the size and shape of the container in which you hold it. That container is made up of your beliefs about what is possible, your expectations of what will happen, and - most of all - your thoughts about yourself and the world you live in.

Many of your beliefs about what is possible for you were put there by someone else when you were just starting to blossom. But what would your life look like if you were able to let yourself grow without the limits of other people's ideas about you? Children are often forced to shrink to fit the size of their containers by adults who don't know any better. The good news is that, unlike our two-gallon pumpkin, once we are grown we still have the choice to be different.

So, look at your beliefs - where they came from and how they limit you. Then, make some choices for yourself based on how big you'd like your mind and spirit to grow.