Digging up Fred Flintstone
Growing up one thing was constant…traveling to Florida to fish every weekend.
Mom would have the truck ready and packed for when Dad got off work.
Then off we’d go for another action packed weekend of reels, squid, & flea markets. Whew! I’m missing it already! LOL
To say my Dad loves to fish, would be an understatement. He eats, sleeps, breaths it, so driving 6 hours one way to fish for one day was never an issue in his eyes.
My grandparents had a simple house on the bay in Panama City. Still do. It literally was my second home growing up.
I would entertain myself by fishing off the dock for bait, making castles in the vacant lot of sand across the street, & playing baby dolls with my cousin, Dixie, that was living the same life I was.
I’ll never forget one particular weekend.
I came up with a brilliant idea….at least I thought. I soon discovered that Mom didn’t think so.
In my love for Fred Flintstone vitamins, I decided to bury the bottle in the sand.
It was simple in my young mind. I thought they were good and I wanted to know I could have some later.
But when Mom found out she freaked! Boy was she scared I was going to OD on Fred Flintstone.
This story always makes me laugh, but I want to ask you a Bedrock question?
How many times have you buried something that was “sweet” to you?
We’ve all heard the wisdom from long ago…the parable of the talents.Where the one man hid up his and later on lost it completely, while the other only experienced increase because he used his.
We are promised that we ALL have been given a talent.
There are no “favorites” here on schoolhouse earth.
But so many times that negative voice of your conscious tells you secretly that there are.We look at others and argue.Most of the time it’s because we are seeing a talent that is easily seen or heard.
For example the ability of a beautiful painter, the concert pianist, or the singer who has the voice of an angel.We look at these “talents” of others and say…“Wow! I sure wish I could paint like that…play like that…sing like that…”
So am I saying that we each have equal talent to that of some of the “Greats”?
ABSOLUTELY.
There is no difference in the “amount” of talent between
You & Faith Hill.
You & Michael Jordon.
You & Thomas Kincade.
You & Billy Joel.
Now hold on…wait a second…before you go sitting down at the piano and trying to belt out “Piano Man”, let me clarify.As you are well aware, we each are different. We each are unique.But we all are blessed with specific gifts.
The difference is that some have RECOGNIZED their talent, while others have yet to. They’ve went even further than recognition though, they’ve ACTED on it.
Now let’s think back to the vitamins…
Pretend that they were my “talents”.When I recognized they were “good”, I wanted them all to myself, so I buried them.I didn’t want to share them.
Now besides the fact a child shouldn’t be handing out Flintstones like candy, let’s ponder the concept.
Instead of burying them, what if I had shared them with others that were lacking nourishment?
Plain and simple.
Share your talents, don’t keep them to yourself.
What if Faith only sung in the car to herself?
What if Michael played basketball at home alone?
What if Thomas painted a picture only in his mind?
What if the “Piano Man” only played after everyone had left the bar?
Like I mentioned before, it takes not only recognizing your gift, but “acting” on it or “pursuing” it.Is there something that you just have an absolute passion for? Maybe a thought that continues to come to you? Or just something that you are naturally good at?
Zero in on those things.
These are GIFTS.
YOUR GIFTS.
Now give yourself permission.
Share.
Study.
Pursue.
Bring ALL of yourself to the table. Begin pouring out your GIFT into other people.
Your “success” will come when you LOVE what you do.
Don’t be afraid to dig up Fred Flintstone and SHARE.
Until next time…I’ll take a grape Dino…what’ll you have?
Flintstones for EVERYONE!!! Read more...