Professor Seuss

We can learn a lot from Dr. Seuss.  Not just "learning how to read" and "discovering words that rhyme."  Tapping into our inner-child is sometimes the best way to evolve our creativity.  The imagination of a child is limitless.  They don't know that cats don't wear striped hats on a regular basis.  They don't know that eggs aren't the perfect hue of green (at least not edible ones).  Children have no restrictions.  They make something out of nothing every single day.  Give them a cardboard box and it soon becomes a rocket ship, a drum set, a refrigerator. 

Childhood is a journey, not a race.  I try to live by that motto as often as possible.  We are always in a rush - a rush to grow up, to move on, to find the next big thing.  Too often we ignore the present, our journey, and that's sort of the most important part.  Start being nonsensical.  Play ridiculous music.  Dance around in your pajamas.  Take advantage of the opportunities in front of you right now.  The future is going to come one way or another.  We might as well enjoy the journey.

Follow Dr. Seuss' advice and live like a child (even if only for a few hours each day):

01. Try something new.  Sam spends almost the entirety of Green Eggs and Ham arguing that he doesn't like the odd food choice.  Until he finally tries it and discovers that it's actually quite delicious.  Do that one thing you've spent so much time convincing yourself wasn't for you. 

02. Change your surroundings.  Just like in The Cat In The Hat, sometimes all you need to do is dye your bathtub pink to alter your frame of mind.  A pink bathtub may not be very practical, but you can do other things to liven up the space you spend the most time in: hang a new picture, buy a vase of flowers,  write motivational words all over your white walls. Anything.

03. Take advantage of opportunities. Oh, The Places You'll Go! reminds us not to stand still.  There will always be new adventures worth discovering - as long as we're willing to make them work.  We can't sit and wait for them to come to us.  We need to make things happen for ourselves. 

04. Be passionate and take action.  Learn from the lessons in The Lorax and do something about the things you feel strongly about.  Donate your time.  Educate others.  Whatever your passion, make sure you share it with the world.  Keeping it to yourself won't change a thing.

05. Life is pretty great.  Write your own One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and make a list of all the amazing things that you encountered today.  The perfect cup of coffee you had this morning; the conversation with a great friend; the two (out of ten) things you crossed off of your to-do list.