Good Morning Friends!!
I have a client that does canvas paintings and she had been telling me about a painting she had done a number of years ago. She finally decided to take it to a frame shop and have the painting framed. Last week she brought the painting by the gym to show me before she took it to the frame shop. I looked at the painting and told her how beautiful it was and how much I liked the painting.
As we talked about her painting she mentioned that all she sees are the imperfections of the painting. All the mistakes she made. All the areas on the canvas she could have done differently. The brush strokes that weren’t made right.
Interesting how we were both looking at the same painting but had two totally different views of the art work.
Why did we have different impressions of the same painting?
The only thing I saw was the end result. I didn’t see the process. I didn’t see the struggle making the right brush stroke. I didn’t see the struggle mixing the right colors. I didn’t see the struggle making what she saw in her mind’s eye come out on the canvas.
Often, we only see the end result and not the process. We only see the weight loss, not the sacrifice that went into the weight loss. We only see the business success, not the multiple business failures. We only see the happy marriage, not all the work along the way to make it a happy marriage.
Yes, when we are the artist of our lives we see all the imperfections and the areas we could have made a different choice. Our life may look beautiful to others but we know what failures and successes went into our painting.
I challenge each of us to appreciate the beauty of our painting and take time to see it as others see it, as a work of art. Struggles and imperfections make the most beautiful paintings.
Your Friend,
Aaron