My young nephews came over for a visit and for the first time in a long time, I stepped on a Lego, a pain on par with childbirth, I assume. Some people have an accident and come up with amazing breakthroughs and profound thoughts. Take Alexander Fleming, he invented penicillin because of a dirty petri dish. In the movie Back to the Future, Doc Brown invented the flux capacitor after bumping his head and created time travel. Me, I hopped around on one foot and mumbled profanities.

 

The ordeal got me thinking, though. A tiny Lego stopped me from doing the thing I set out to do.  In other words, a block blocked me. A block is an interesting thing. It can be something to build with; like a Lego, but it can also be a thing that prevents something from happening; like blocking a shot in basketball. I also find that blocks create blocks. For example, sometimes when I am writing a joke, I feel stuck and cannot get the joke started or get to the right punchline. This is called ‘writer’s block’. When dealing with writer’s block, I am forced to find ways around the block, so I will need to try new angles and methods until I find the one that gets the ideas flowing again. So now, the block I had preventing me from writing a joke created the building block to what ultimately becomes the finished joke. The block created a block. 

 

Parents do this all the time. The rain stops you from going to the Cubs game; you turn it into a movie night. The power goes out; you turn it into a game of flashlight tag. Kids remember these times and when you model turning a negative into a positive, it will be engrained in them to do the same in life. Some people say “if life gives you lemons, you make lemonade” I say, if life gives you a block, make another block. It’s not as catchy, but it just might work on a t-shirt someday.