Kyle MacDonald is a young Canadian with a good sense of humor, a creative spirit, and the ability to dream. Over the course of a year, he “traded up”: one red paperclip
for one fish pen
for one door knob
for one camping stove
for one red generator
for one instant party
for one famous snowmobile
for one trip to Yahk, British Columbia
for one cube van
for one recording contract
for one year home rental in Phoenix
for one afternoon with Alice Cooper
for one Kiss snowglobe
for one movie role
for one house in Kipling, Saskatchewan.
Kyle went from owning one red paperclip to, fourteen trades later, owning a three-bedroom house. As I was reading his book, One Red Paperclip (Or How an Ordinary Man Achieved His Dream with the Help of a Simple Office Supply), I was reminded of the power of a simple, seemingly impossible dream. Early in his quest, as he was tentatively testing the outrageous idea with his friends and family, his Dad asked him the inspirational inquiry, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”. Facing his fears, he got on Craigslist and began his quest, one trade at a time.
In the book, Kyle shares some of the lessons he learned along the way. Lessons like: If you don’t start, then how can you finish? Feel free to complain, we can buy earplugs. If everybody wins, nobody loses. If you don’t try, you’ll never know. Everything we take for granted was once an idea. But I keep coming back to his Dad’s challenging question, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”.
What would YOU do if you weren’t afraid? Tackle a new task? Meet new people? Think new thoughts? Pursue a new adventure?
In Psalm 56:3, David says to God, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”
So, perhaps the better question is: What might you do, even if you are afraid?
Trusting God, afraid or not, why not dream a new dream? Kyle MacDonald would tell you to start small, think big and have fun! (If you don’t want to read his book, you can check out his website at oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com).
Dennis Lynn
Redwood Church
