Open-Source Kindness

Human history is amazing. When the best people do their best work, it is my humble belief that we get the tiniest glimpse of Heaven on earth. Dr. Jonas Salk. Dr. Salk spent seven years developing the Polio vaccine in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Then in 1955, he shared it with the world. He didn’t patent it. He shared it openly with the world so Polio could be all but irradicated. In much more recent news, (and I am in no way comparing this person to Dr. Salk) Elon Musk has not only open sourced his lithium battery designs, but he recently released and open sourced the algorithm for X (formerly Twitter). I wonder. If you or I had a potentially billion-dollar idea or invention, would we rush to the patent office or open source it for the world’s benefit?

My dear friends, we can make that choice every single day. Our attitude, our demeanor, our mood is a choice. We can choose to allow the world to make that choice for us if we aren’t careful. The world we live in certainly has the patent on negative. But what if we took a deep breath, got out of bed, and said aloud, “not today. Today, I am open sourcing my happiness for everyone!” This choice may not help eliminate a terrible disease or help a young entrepreneur with an essentially free algorithm, but I am a firm believer that like finds like. Let me say that again.

Like finds like.

I have been making a conscious choice to be up every day. I have made this decision daily for the past several months and you know what? I have never, ever been happier in my entire life. It seems positive energy constantly finds me. It seems negative is spinning its nasty webs somewhere else. It may not be making the entire world a better place like Dr. Salk did, but my immediate surroundings sure are benefiting from my personal open sourcing of up.

Let me ask you once again. What if you open sourced positive out there in your own personal areas of influence? As official members of the Tribe of Up, we simply must advocate for more joy. Let us ensure that before that joy goes out, it starts from within. We can choose to make the best of whatever the day throws at us. Then we can choose to only exude our open-sourced positivity for any and everyone we encounter. Imagine if we all did this for just one day. It wouldn’t be Saturday or Tuesday. It would be ‘Upday.’ Open source your joy for the benefit of the world. Make everyday Upday. It’s ok if people think you’ve maybe gone a bit loco. Who cares. I open-source joy. I give my level best each day to give it away. There is no way I will patent Tribe of Up. Even if they let me (which I am fairly certain they won’t) I would open source this little oasis of up. Allow me to gently and lovingly challenge you to find a day or two this week to choose up and open source it to everyone you come across. I think Dr. Salk would be proud.

Steve Gwisdalla is a Dexter resident and the Owner, Director of Up Open Sourcing, and Vice President of Happy at Better Place Consulting, a success coaching firm. If you want to start tearing up some patents and start open sourcing, reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com.