MA Maverick is an unorthodox, non- conformist, free- spirit.

To my surprise, I found that the word originates from a man called Samuel A. Maverick (1803–70), a Texas rancher who did not brand his cattle. In his time, this defiance from established convention must have been considered not only eccentric but upsetting. And pointless to boot. Besides being inconvenient. I mean, how are you to identify your cattle if you didn’t brand them, hey Sam? Didn’t think of that, didja?

On the other hand, Sam probably understood that he didn’t need to stamp his name on his cattle before they could belong to him. Or perhaps he considered himself a mindful steward of the bounty the universe made available for his use, not its owner. Or maybe his world- view was vast enough to find the narrow definition of  ownership restrictive.

Whatever be his reason, he was a rebel. He didn’t see why he should do things because that’s how they’re always done. By breaking a trend, he began another; by walking away from the rules of a group, he began another. Because of him, rebels and non- conformists have a brand name for their spirit. We are all Mavericks.

Maverick is a word which appeals to me more than misfit. Maverick is active, misfit is passive.

~Alan Rickman

When you are a Maverick, your only rule is that there are none. You don’t stand at the end of a long line of conventions, traditions and customs, walking in the rutted footsteps of all those who came before you. You stand at the beginning of a new  thought, listening to your own voice, heeding your own precepts, obeying your own laws.

The word normal (or average *ugh*) can’t ever be applied to human beings. Just as you feel that you’ve finally discovered the normal point, along comes someone upsetting all calculations with one unpredictable action. The normal then, is reduced to the process of finding the common denominator. And you end up wondering why you feel decimated! How could you not?

The whole world loves a maverick and the whole world wants the maverick to achieve something nobler than simple rebellion.

~ Kevin Patterson

If you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will always be the biggest failure on earth. A fish is meant to swim, a monkey to climb trees. A lion is meant to roar and a mouse to squeak. A bee is meant to gather honey and butterfly to flit- though they both drink the nectar.

Your North Star is the purpose of your life. Through it, you will give meaning to your life. As you follow your North Star, you will be brought face to face with the reason why you were given that path to travel. If you are lucky, you will also be allowed to see the part you have played in the vast tapestry being woven, stitch by stitch, by every person who walks the earth.

You will see where you left your thread the last time and from where you must now continue to complete the motif that only you can weave. This motif is unique, unlike any other being woven. It is YOUR motif, assigned to you, to be brought to completion only by you. It is intrinsically a part of the whole tapestry, without which it would be incomplete.

Come on Maverick, pick up your thread!

I personally believe mavericks are people who write their own rulebook.

They are the ones who act first and talk later. They are fiercely independent thinkers who know how to fight the lizard brain (to use Seth Godin’s term).

I don’t believe many are born, rather they are products of an environment, or their experiences.

They are usually the people that find the accepted norm does not meet their requirements and have the self-confidence, appetite, independence, degree of self reliance and sufficient desire to carve out their own niche in life.

~ Ziad K. Abdelnour