Many of you who know me well are familiar with the fact that every once in a while I have a stroke of genius and think of a new invention that would surely better our humanity and improve quality of life.  The problem is, I never act on my ideas – mainly because they seem to far-fetched.  But more times than not, someone else eventually comes out with my invention, which is not their invention and therefore they reap the reward.  I have blogged about this before… here.

Well, it happened again!  For several years now (since we moved to the coast) my favorite hobby has been skimboarding.  Skimboarding is where you take a board (it looks like a fatter, mini version of a surfboard without the fin), you run as fast as you can at a 45 degree angle to the incoming waves on the beach, all at once you kind of throw your board in front of you and jump on, and then you glide across the water much like Tom Cruise did on his floor in Risky Business.  More advanced skimmers can even angle their board into the waves and surf a little.

Anyway, a few years ago I had an idea for how more people could skimboard without the beach.  You could build a contraption much like a Slip-n-Slide, maybe with a thin layer of foam underneath to mimic the sand, and some sprinklers to keep the water flow going.  I thought this was a good idea.  I wanted to build one in my backyard.  That way I could skim anytime I wanted to.  My wife said no.  I shared the idea with my skimboarding buddies and they all laughed at me, saying there was no market for such a thing and that it would be too hard to make.

Well, they were wrong… check this out.  That’s right, the Slip-n-Slide folks made my dream come true with the exact invention I just described to you.  When I first saw this, I was really angry – I had missed out again.  Then I kind of laughed because there is a major design flaw in this new rig.  On the beach, when you run out of water, there is only one option – falling flat on your face.  So Slip-n-Slide execs, what happens at the end of your little game?

In the end I thought it was pretty cool that someone else out there had the same idea as me.  It was kind of eery, but at the same time comforting.  For years I have been really excited about this idea, but everytime I’ve shared it people seemed to laugh at me.  Now here I find that someone else, possibly several someones, not only thought this was a good idea – they did it!  Even though I had nothing to do with it, a little part of me felt proud.

And that is how community works.  We need to find people who are passionate about the same things, who believe the same things, and more importantly people who will help us achieve our dreams.  I can’t help but wonder what my life would have been like if I crossed paths with the other folks who thought of the Skim-n-Slide.  I could have told them it should be longer.  The good ideas would be better and the bad ideas would be out the window.  True healthy community makes you a better person by solidifying your strengths and by exposing your weaknesses.  In the end, not only are you a better person, but the world is a better world… and slip-n-slides become much safer.

Do you have a group of people who believes in you?  Do you have a group of people around you who are helping you accomplish your dreams?  Or do you find yourself surrounded by cynicism, doubts, and even laughter?  My advice – find some fellow dreamers and start living!