If someone else has done it, you can too.
-- Cynthia Copeland Lewis, “Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me”

And even if nobody’s done it, you can do it. Why not?

Have you ever lay in bed at night and thought up a solution to a problem, you know, some problem that all of us have? Like if your car alarm goes off and you’re inside the mall or somewhere crowded, how would you know unless your key vibrated or made a sound to let you know there was trouble at your car? Or maybe you have the tried-and-true answer to no weep onion cutting and it has something to do with citronella, glycerin, Vodka, and baby diapers. Or, perhaps you’ve figured out how to leave no child behind by simply using hard work, neighborhood schools, and a paddle. Oh wait, that’s not new, that’s old school.

But maybe you have a new take on an old thing, like Chrysler did with its throwback PT Cruiser. Maybe the old thing just needs new energy, like putting the spice and sauce back into a staid marriage. Or maybe you’ve thought to brilliantly repurpose a thing, like the emerald green damask Martha Stewart Collection tablecloth you use as a shower curtain because it perfectly matches the tile in your bathroom or making cloth grocery bags from old family reunion t-shirts.

Maybe you’ve come up with an expansion to something old, like McDonalds did when it added gourmet coffee to its menu to attract a different customer. Or you can upgrade or replace an idea, like Adobe Acrobat does every 20 minutes. Or you can buy out, take over, and give a thing a new name, like J.P. Morgan did with Bear Stearns.

Or maybe you want to do the thing that’s already been done, you just want to leave your mark. Maybe you’d like to put on another production of “Dreamgirls” that is just like the original version except this time you’re the producer. Maybe you too want to record a version of “The Christmas Song,” only this time it’s your voice on the CD. That’s okay because your mark is your own; nobody will touch the thing in quite the way you’ve touched it.

Whatever you do, if you can think it, you can do it, and DON’T let anyone tell you otherwise. Do it big; do it new; do it small; do it the same. Whatever, it’s there for you to do.

Sadiqqa © 2008