Hi Everyone, Thank you all for a wonderful lively discussion and your forum replies. John here, Being creative and also innovative as I have been all my life, through being an artist, toymaker, designer and antique furniture restorer, has been both a blessing and a curse. The blessing part allowed me to create and design almost at will plucking ideas out of seemingly thin air over and over again. As a blessing also it allowed for lateral thinking instead of the blinkered text book way of being creative. On the downside, the curse is the adversity from those less creative, less innovative, those that, although stand in awe and secretly admire people with talents beyond their comprehension, also fear those go getters, the innovators and creative types. These are usually the under acheivers, the school bullies, who actually fear everything they don't understand. Yet everyone has at least one talent within them, but sadly many never allow that one talent to surface, sometimes through fear of actual success and sometimes through their past failures, which hold them back like forever being chained to a wall and being asked to run, knowing they'll get pulled back. Looking within oneself to find that one talent is so important. By taking that one skill within us all and utilizing it to build a business whether online or not, then there is no reason why success should not be with everyones grasp. Being creative in whatever field you choose can be more a matter of knowledge than actual talent. The innovative part is taking that knowledge and turning it into a skill or platform to work from. Love and Peace John Elliott aka Oaky Wood & Luella May

Amen.

Hi Luella and John, This is an interesting subject, and I agree that you must be yourself as much as possible, but you must also project a great attitude, even if you're suffering from intense depression. One of the major attractions here is that Adland members are 'what you see is what you get' people. In other words, my people. We all strive to be the best we can be, in life as well as in business, and that's where our uniqueness comes from. I also believe absolutely in continuous learning, and using all the tools that can give you a leg-up in our chosen business(s). I also believe in treating others the way I wish to be treated. It is not always possible, yet we must do it. Not everyone will like us, and that is okay. We have to remember the written word can often be misinterpreted or offense taken when none was intended. Hey, get over it and move on! My two cents worth.

Hello Jennifer, Your two cents worth is awesome. Not only in business, but in every situation we must always keep a positive attitude. How you act, has a lot to do with how you feel. If you are sad, try just smiling, and after a while you will see that your mood has lifted. How does that saying go, "Fake it 'till you make it?" or something like that? However, if one is suffering from intense depression, it would be best to seek help, as it could very well be a chemical imbalance. I wholeheartedly agree that you should always, in any given situation, treat others as you would have them treat you. However, even in the adult world there are people who truly don't like you and there is no compromising with them. In those situations, simply move on. Focus on dealing with positive people and leave the negative behind. Kindest regards, Luella May and John Elliott, aka Oaky Wood

Here's something I came across today that I thought would be appropriate. It's taken from the Business Opportunities Blog: The Five Stages of Innovation 1. People deny that the innovation is required. 2. People deny that the innovation is effective. 3. People deny that the innovation is important. 4. People deny that the innovation will justify the effort required to adopt it. 5. People accept and adopt the innovation, enjoy its benefits, attribute it to people other than the innovator, and deny the existence of stages 1 to 4! ©AC 2005. Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt's 'Three Stages Of Scientific Discovery', as referenced by Bill Bryson in his book, 'A Short History Of Nearly Everything'.