Day 72 - Answer number 20.

I remembered last night a creative problem solving exercise I learned a number of years ago.  It goes something like this.  

​When faced with a difficult question, looking for a new creative answer or idea, number a page of paper from 1 to 20.  Then write down possible answers.  Twenty of them.

The first few will be easy.  The obvious ones.

The next several will be the ones obviously NOT the correct answer.  Maybe ugly.  But they help to fill in the list, so write them down anyway.  It's simply an exercise.  Nobody needs to read it. 

The next set, the less obvious answers, will force you to dig deeper, and perhaps to think  "out of the box" as the saying goes.  Creative.  Possibly ridiculous.  But roll with it.  Keep writing until you fill in all the way to 20.

Then step back, and take a closer look at what you filled in for number 20.  Because more often than not, it will be the "why didn't I think of that before?" answer.  After you've exhausted the logic, and the ridiculous, the truth filled,  creative idea is allowed to rise to the surface.

As I start to close in on the completion of this self-imposed 90 day blog challenge, I wonder what the topic will be on day 90.  Will it simply be a celebration of the end of this writing journey?  A springboard for a new venture?  Or...?

I don't know the answer.  I'm not there yet.  And I'm not going to rush it.  That would be like looking for Christmas presents hidden somewhere in the house on December 1.  It sure would spoil the surprise of Christmas morning.  

As I quoted on Facebook today, from Mark Batterson's book Chase the Lion.  "Don't be in such a hurry to begin the next chapter of your life that you fail to ace the lessons the current chapter is trying to teach you."- 

Patience.  Never been my long suit.  But I'm working on it. One day at a time.  Savor the remaining 18 days.

Stay tuned...

xo
​Mimi

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