GIFTS WITH WINGS

 

Some years ago, I had an idea running through my head. I thought it was really nice, and so I documented it almost immediately. After putting the thought down, I realized that if I developed it well enough, I could extract an entire short story from it.

I tucked the paper away neatly and promised to work on it later. I gave the idea more thought and was able to put together something better in my head. Being the lazy kid with big dreams that I am, I procrastinated when I’d develop the idea into a story.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months; my idea remained undeveloped, and life as I knew it continued. I got a movie from a friend, and as I watched it, I received a very mild but painful shock; the movie was simply an expanded version of the concept I had abandoned.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. The plot and characters were different from mine, but the main idea and theme of the movie were just two steps away from what I had put together. I really had no words for myself because the movie was amazing and I had the opportunity of being the first person to launch that concept.

I like to believe that amazing ideas come to every single one of us, but when we hesitate or discard them, they fly away to others who seem more interested in bringing them to life.

When ideas fly, sometimes they evolve, but other times they don’t. When they evolve, you are able to identify very few or no traces of your own thoughts. When they don’t evolve, it’s almost as though you’ve been robbed of a brainchild because you can see your thoughts almost everywhere.

Although I strongly believe that no two people can express an idea in the exact same way, why wait until someone else’s idea is just a stone’s throw from yours?

To that person who’s been procrastinating or ignoring that mind-blowing idea in his head, don’t wait until the wings of your ideas get activated. If you do, you just might lose the next big thing the world is waiting to see.