The Good Idea Obituaries

Wednesday, April 01, 2009 ~ 3:41 pm

I was having lunch with my wife a few weeks ago and during the meal I was observing the other diners. There was one man in particular that caught my attention. He was a middle aged fellow in a button-up shirt and slacks reading the paper. He seemed to be lost in his reading, mindlessly chewing the same bite for longer than usual.

As we finished up , we gathered our trash and headed towards the car. It was then that I noticed what had captured his attention. The obituaries.

I’ve always wondered why people read them. Everyone’s answer is different, but I have the sneaking suspicion that some part of our brains are looking to see if we are in there. Or at least pondering what would be written about us.

It is a good thing to understand that our time is limited. We’re only given so many days and we ought live brave, good lives. But some people seem to be so obsessed with the idea of everything ending that they forget about living right now! The same can be said of our great ideas.

Because you know what you get when you don’t let something rest in peace? Frankenstein.

Like me, you probably have a metric ton of ideas that never happened. You’ve probably launched something awesome and watched it be ignored. You might have made the the amazing thing and seen it laughed at as the awful. Whatever the story, they’re dead now.

So here’s a tip. Let it be dead.

Because you know what you get when you don’t let something rest in peace? Frankenstein.

Instead, let’s try something different. Let’s move on and create something new. Go ahead and code up that new app idea, redesign your site with your real personality, and give life to something new. Stop obsessing about that old dead thing and bake a new cake covered in awesome sauce!

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