Japan grocery stores are much smaller than in the US and therefore they need to utilise their space much more economically. Big round Watermelons waste a lot of space, so the ever resourceful Japanese came up with an ingenious solution – they would grow square watermelons. It sounds bizarre and implausible but, with a little bit of horticultural homework, it seems the solution was in fact very simple. All they did was place them into a square box when they were still growing and the watermelons obligingly took on the shape of the box.
Everyone was happy - the grocery stores saved money on shipping. Consumers loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators. Farmers who grew square watermelons got more orders.
There are some life lessons in this:
Don’t Assume: Just because something has always been a certain way doesn’t mean that it can’t change if the need arises. If you need to alter something in your life, there is always another way to do it if you apply some thought and effort. This approach will help break old negative habits and you will begin to form new habits based on well thought out processes. It’s an on-going process, but by doing this, you can consistently strive towards making every part of your life more enjoyable.
Be creative: When faced with a problematic situation, be creative by brainstorming for a solution. This often requires you to think outside the box (because the watermelon is in the box). Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective. Don’t intellectualise everything. Most people would have wasted years and probably a great deal of money on trying to genetically alter water melons to grow square. Being creative is something you can practise and fine tune. One creative thought leads to another, and eventually ideas build upon themselves.
Look for alternatives: Developing square watermelons was simply a way to make life more convenient, and this was because the shops had identified a problem and asked if it was possible to find a solution. What questions do you need to ask yourself regarding your life? Then explore the options to bring about change. But keep it simple and you will keep it effective.
Impossibilities often aren’t impossible: As Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t - you’re right”. You need to decide how you are going to approach challenges. Impossibilities are like a brick wall surrounding a beautiful home. If you focus on the impossibilities, you will never see the ladder to take you where you want to be.