Are you "Thinking outside the box?"

Today I have had a thought on my mind that I felt like I should post about.  It is about being an Out of the box thinker.  What exactly does that mean?  Well let me give you the example that has been on my mind since my day has been spent doing exactly that.... thinking outside the box.

My story began about a month or so ago when I just happened in a such a wonderful sale at Taipan, which is a marvelous and my favorite home decor store.  I was actually looking for some photo frames to frame the family pictures that were taken clear back in July.  I had delayed so long this project but finally I knew I needed to get those pictures up on the wall before they were so old, it was time to take more.  Back to Taipan....I walked back to the section where they had their frames and to my delight I saw 50% off all framed art and photo frames in that section of the store.  I was in heaven and was so excited as that was exactly what I came for. My eyes immediately met two,  huge beautiful white picture frames.  I examined them and then looked at the original price.  When I deducted off what I thought the 50% off would be, then I knew I had to purchase those. I quickly put them in my shopping cart so that nobody else would get their hands on them. 

My eyes then found another sign that said up to 75% off, and of course a bargain shopper like me would not over look those.  As I pulled my cart over to those frames, I could see that they really were not very pretty.  In fact the pictures in them were so outdated and unsightly, I said to myself.... "Well I know why those are marked at such a low price".   I started to look around and went back to the 50% off frames and began to look through those once again.  Then I saw it... a sign that someone at the store had put up and it said something to this effect.... "You may not like the artwork in the picture, but look at the frame.  Buy it for the frame."  So what I interpreted it to mean was this.... I needed to think outside the box.  I needed to take a look at the frame instead of disregarding the frame because the picture didn't particularly appeal to me.

I began to look at those all of those frames for 75% off, and realized that there were really nice frames.  The photos inside were pretty awful, and the color of the frame was definitely not something that would match the colors of my house, but what is it that I could do with them?  My mind started to look at them a whole lot closer and I thought.... if I bought a can of spray paint, I could paint that frame black and the wood is so pretty and sculpted, it would look really nice!  Then I began to realize that I had a wall at home that i had wanted as a gallery for pictures of my children and grandchildren.  If I converted my digital family photos into black and whites, they would look really good in a freshly painted frame.  But then I got stuck.  I noticed that each of those frames that I could fix with a little work had a double matt, and though I could use the outer cream colored matt, that inside mat was in Rust color.  That simply would  not do.  I know how expensive it is to buy new mats and figured if I did, I would be paying almost the price that it would be to buy the entire picture, frame and all at the regular price.  So I put all those frames back in the pile of 75% off and walked back over to sort through the 50% off.

Through my mind, I was thinking.... I really wish I could use those other frames, but that ugly matt, what in the world could I do to salvage that matt?  So... I began to think outside the box, and I pictured in my mind some of the darling printed mats on the modern pretty pictures that cost so much money.  Ok, I said, and turned my cart around once again, and walked back to those ugly matted frames.  I then realized that the mats measured about 12 inches long and less wide, and pretty scrapbook paper was 12" x 12" . I remembered two years ago mounting pretty scrapbook paper on some wooden picture frames to sell at a craft fair and they went like hotcakes.  That is what I would do... I would buy some pretty paper and cover those ugly mats, and with some paint, and my photos converted to black and white, I would have a beautiful work of art.

By thinking out of the box, I realized that things that appear unattractive on the outside, or just don't quite fit in with my own likes, could be worked on and with a little polishing, could turn out to be really quite lovely.  It reminds me of the story of Johnny Lingo, and Mahayana.... the ten cow woman.  You know, the village thought she was very unattractive and undesirable but Johnny Lingo saw something beautiful.  By his gesture of offering 8 cows to her father for her hand in marriage, that turned the entire villages view of this woman around, and she became esteemed and admired.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365393/quotes (link to quotes from Johnny Lingo)

How many times are we given Mahannas to go visit teach, knowing that we don't have anything in common, that you don't know anything about this sister, or she lives too far to visit, or she is too much older than you are, or she never smiles, or she seems so crabby, or  on and on and on.  How many excuses do we need to not do our visiting teaching? Over the course of my years as a Visiting teacher, I have been assigned to teach so many women, that I ordinarily would not have gotten to know for whatever reason.  I am so grateful in retrospect that I was given the opportunity to see the beauty, kindness, and love inside these lovely Mahannas.  Through this opportunity, I have been able to make friendships that will last forever.  I have learned as much as I have taught and I am so grateful that I was willing to look outside the box, and move forward with what I had been asked to do.

I loved so much the talk that President Monson gave in the Relief Society about not judging others.  http://new.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/charity-never-faileth?lang=eng ( Link to the talk) Women in general, seem to be really good at making judgements, when it is ourselves we should really be taking a deeper look at.  Making a judgement on someone else, for whatever reason, could potentially eliminate us from meeting someone who could possibly be one of our very best friends.  When we realize that the Lord is directing our paths, and he knows what is ahead of us, then far be it for me to stand in the way of meeting someone that the Lord knows needs me, or even I need her. 

Anyway... can you imagine that I got to this point in this post simply from shopping for picture frames?  I could go on and on, but really I need to get back to my frames.  The last one is drying from the spray paint, and I need to cover the rest of the mats.  Once they are done, I will post a picture and show you just how pretty they turned out.  I don't have a photo for you to compare how they looked before, but just take my advice, and start "thinking outside the box" to find the real treasures that lie under the surface.

Love, Katie G.