“MiMa said that great minds think alike, Daddy. Me no think that true. Me think great minds think for themselves.”
– Adisyn Watson, at age 3, to her daddy and my good friend, Randy Watson
Adisyn Watson is an amazing kid (um, make that “young woman” who’s now in her 20’s and about to be married to a dude who hopefully knows how lucky he is). She spends her days 11,000 miles from home, ministering to women who are being trafficked for sex in the far East. She’s in harm’s way every day, yet she still maintains this wide-eyed clarity, just as she did when she was a little girl. Ady’s work makes mine seem insignificant, primarily because in comparison, it is.
But back to the story of young Miss Watson and her Grandma, who had just said, “Great minds think alike…”
“Me think great minds think for themselves,” replies the 3-year-old.
Fill in the cliche’s you’ve heard; “if we’re all thinking alike then some of us aren’t thinking…” “Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” Yet, too often, we don’t have real incentive to think differently. All too often, at a board table considering strategies or at a dinner table haggling over a deal, or on a conference call, all that can be heard is a cry for consensus. No one wants to question the boss, or worse yet, the boss will not tolerate being questioned.
That red light flashing, and the horn sounding in the back of your mind at times like these — well, those are signals from Ady, and anyone else who really understands.
Consensus doesn’t solve problems. Consensus simply makes it comfortable for us to keep doing what we’ve always done. Adisyn Watson, at age 3 or 4, simply provided us a reminder of the responsibility great minds have to one another.
Let’s think for ourselves, let’s challenge each other—and more importantly challenge the status quo. THat will make a difference.
One last thought. If you’re thinking you want to really make a difference with a charitable donation (seein’s how there’s this impending cliff thingy and how no one in DC can seem to work together and therefore pretty much every penny you earn might just go to the gub’ment starting in about ten days…) please consider Ady’s mission. They need the money more than we do. Here’s a story about their success, and a Facebook page describing the ministry.
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