Thinking Outside The Box

Thinking outside the box has become a catchy phrase over the course of this last century. Most often credited to those who dare to dream of a better way, it is occasionally used to cast aspersions on those traditionalists who limit their thinking to what we already know to be true. Because it is unlikely that thinking outside the box is a new phenomenon, and it appears that many great advances in civilization can be attributed to this thought process, maybe it would be wise to learn how to do it.

All boxes have three or more sides and a top and bottom. If we measure them, we can then say we have its dimensions. Anything that is outside of this box is then said to be in another dimension. Depending on how creative you want to be, you can now think “outside the box” by adding as many dimensions as you want to the “bigger picture.” Warning: If you lose sight of the original box you are no longer thinking outside the box. You are fantasizing.

All this seems fairly straightforward, so it should be easy to pick out those who are wandering around in their own little fantasy world from those of us who are just looking for the truth. Multidimensional thinking can be thought of as one of the keys to the future. If you asked someone right now what the greatest threat to mankind is today they would probably say it is those people who have lost sight of reality. In other words, somewhere along their line of thinking they lost sight of the box.

One by one, all the advances to civilization have been discovered outside the box, and once proven to be true have been picked up and put inside. Really big discoveries have sometimes even forced us to build a bigger box. The mathematicians who set out to prove the current theory of the beginning of the universe finally accomplished their goal, but not until they had wandered all the way out to the thirteenth dimension. Bravo! But, I can’t help but ask why they stopped there. There’s still more to learn.

What we are searching for here is how to be wise, not only in our efforts to think outside the box, but also being able to spot someone else who has crossed over the line, and who is now stuck in a fantasy world. If we expect others to follow our lead, we must recognize that thinking outside the box is not a license to escape from reality. Instead, it should be considered the best of both worlds, providing us with the tantalizing hope for a bright future.

As we begin this search for wisdom, we begin to realize that all our hopes for the future can be found outside the box. Those dreams dwell in dimensions that at times seem so surreal as to be considered fantasies. Almost everyone believes that high in the night sky is a star with their name on it, waiting for them to claim it as their very own. Perhaps the best way to think outside the box is to stand on top of the box, and reach for the sky.