Never underestimate the power of "What if..."

My wife loves Pintrest.  She loves to find home decor ideas that are extravagant(that somehow get filed under DIY) and asks me, “Do you think we could do this to the(name part of house).”  I act like it is a huge deal and huff and puff about the time and skill level it would take to complete but secretly get excited.  Why?  I love going to LOWES and HOME DEPOT.  I am enthralled by the empty canvas my house seems to be as I walk down the aisles. I actually go to these box stores when boredom sets in to walk around and get ideas.   I actively harness the power of the words “What if” as I scavenge the store.  “What if I knock out the wall to the kitchen?”  “What if I excavate the entire perimeter of the house and waterproof the walls?” “What if we add a laundry shoot?”  All of the “what ifs” have led to a house my wife never wants to leave because it bares our footprint and  left me with a sense of satisfaction and skills I didn’t know I possessed.   Recently, the same feeling appears as I walk the halls of the school.   I see an amazing landscape of opportunity.  “What if we taught 3rd and 4th graders to program robots?”  What if our students were given the opportunity to publish a book?”  ”What if we change the schedule to allow tinker time every week?”  “What if,” moments cross my mind on an hourly basis.  Some are possible, some are reaching, and some may never materialize but I never underestimate the power of uttering those two words.  Who knows what it might lead to in the future? 

I often think about what the world would be like without the power of “what if.”   I feel we would be looking at a flat globe, not eating pizza, and still reading by candle light. I most certainly would not be writing a blog post.  It scares me to start blogging. It is not an easy thing to put your thoughts and (seemingly poor) writing out for the world to see, but ”what ifmy writing is worth reading?”  “What if this post encourages other to do the same?”  “What if I become an international celebrity writer?”  Ok, that last one was a little farfetched but that is part of the fun of asking yourself “what if…”