Be Brilliant Like Einstein
Like most people, I have my share of celebrity crushes. Though their legacies are very much alive, most of the influencers who make me swoon happen to be dead.
I was looking over some of my favorite, go-to inspiration sources and came across one of those mentors from the beyond: Einstein. I’m no scientist and I’m certainly not a mathematician, but many of Einstein’s quotes can help us on a daily basis.
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” ~ Einstein
Who isn’t filled with awe when looking at what this one individual brought to our world and society? Obviously, Einstein is one of my role models. Many of the things I appreciate about him are not that well known. Yes, he crafted the general theory of relativity, yet he struggled to learn French. Brilliant and even studious in math, he had a relentless disregard for the status quo, conformity, and dogma. He broke the rules, tested limits, bucked authority and often changed paths, or even quit things in the middle. I make many of my decisions with my gut. I’m well informed, but ruled by instinct and intuition. My sister makes a pros and cons chart, weighing out every option when making decisions. She crunches data, looks for statistical findings, and relies on “the facts.”
These are both valid ways to make a decision. But, what happens when your gut and “the facts” don’t line up? What do you do when all that evidence (“the facts”) point to no but your heart, your soul, your inside dances and screams toward yes!
Over the last year, I have been taking huge personal and professional risks. I left what I thought would be my dream job: a well-compensated position pioneering a new wellness approach for primary care at Mayo Clinic, a highly esteemed organization. It was an amazing job with great benefits and connections; all the facts said stay. But, my heart said go forth and create your own program of wellness and offer it up to the masses in the way you feel it would be most beneficial.
Logic doesn’t always work. It doesn’t always lead you to the “right” answer. I’m not saying don’t look at the evidence or throw out practicality, but don’t underestimate the power of inspiration and creativity. Maybe something that you want to do isn’t the most practical thing. Maybe it doesn’t even look doable. Sometimes when we make a bold decision, the power of our imagination kicks in and we find ways to make it work that we would never have conceived using logic alone.
I’m a visionary. This is not bragging or self-promotion, it’s just the truth, and it is both a gift and a curse. I often see trends or have insights years before they hit the public vortex of media. I rarely share these pioneering thoughts until, well, now. Because, why not?!
Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.” ~ Einstein {tweet out}
Nature is one of the most powerful healing elements. Have you ever had that experience where you actually notice the beauty of your surroundings? I mean truly connect with it? Most days we rush around too busy to notice all of what is happening in this natural world all around us. We miss out on it. Nature is gorgeous and amazing and happening around us all the time, even in the inner city. We are connected to, inspired by, and taught by our environment. Get out into it, or get it into your house. Be in awe; be curious.
Maybe you’re not a “nature lover.” No matter. You can connect to nature’s healing power. Anyone can. Just give it a minute. Bundle up and brave the weather for a brisk walk. Open up your window and let the birdsong and spring breeze in. Pick up a leaf or a rock. Wonder about it. Be part of nature. It’s healing.
When we are contemplating decisions we look inward, but it’s good to take time to reflect outside of ourselves. Sometimes what we see outside changes the way we think, feel, and act. Give yourself that gift.
When the solution is simple, God is answering.” ~ Einstein
For years, I practiced yoga with a dear friend (she now lives in Paris with her husband) and I remember her saying this to me time and time again: “The best decision or solution is most often the most simple.” It’s not the one steeped in drama and details, or the one with a well-laid-out but complex or rigid plans.
Have you had those moments where you push your “solution” or your “desire” into a situation? I know I have, and I can tell you how it worked out – bleah. When we surrender and allow the situation to have its own miraculous unfolding, it happens in ways far beyond what you or I could ever imagine.
Sometimes the answer is just simple, and we make it complex and hard.
We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” ~ Einstein
How often do you make a decision on any given day? Thousands of options are ahead of us, and we navigate our days with the past tucked under our wings. I see myself repeating things I have done before or attempting to remedy a situation using what worked for me in the past. We use a different energy and have access to a different mindset and plane of thinking when we are solving a situation verses when we are in a situation. When we are struggling through something and attempting to bring some kind of order to what might look like disorder, it can bring up some anxiety or fear and send us right into survival thinking, locking us out of using those higher planes of thinking and being (another one of my dead mentors, Maslow, came up with this revolutionary way of thinking called the Hierarchy of Needs). This is entirely reasonable, but not very helpful. Only when we can see for ourselves that all things really will work out do we start to see something bigger and use resources that are in our reach to move us past just surviving. With a bigger perspective, my friends, we can reach past the lowest hanging fruit and get to that apple at the top of the tree that we really want.
Be your own Einstein today and show your brilliance.