Each Brushstroke Is Another Goal Put Into Action – Turning The Invisible, Visible.

Your life is a canvas,make it a MASTERPIECE

“Make your life a masterpiece; imagine no limitations on what you can be, have or do”  – Brian Tracy

As you go through life, you are given glimpses through open doors of opportunities.  Most of the time you pass them by.  But once in awhile there is a door that grabs you.  It stirs your curiosity.  What would it be like to accomplish this dream, you wonder?  Like a blank canvas, with a range of colors on the palette it calls to use to use this color.  Try this one next.  What is critical at this point is to not overthink it.  That will ruin the painting.  You will get stuck with writers block if you question what the soul is whispering to you.  Instead you just need to challenge yourself to step into the room.  One step at a time you slowly step over to the easel.  You pick up the paint brush and start painting with the one color that grabs your attention.

“Make your life a masterpiece:  Step beyond the demands of the moment and begin right now to design and live the life you deserve”  – Tony Robbins

As you look at the canvas you might decide that you want a color that has a pinkish purple flavor to it.  When you look at your palette, you find two colors that sort of call out to you.  Two competing dreams as it were.  Which one do you pick?  Pick the one that is bolder in color.  The one that scares you a little to use it.  What will people think when they look at your painting?  Will they say it is too wild?  Too garish looking?  Pick the one that scares you.  It is the one that is going to grow you.  Always go for the scary colors.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream”  – C.S. Lewis

Now how are you approaching this canvas?  I always think of the eccentric Frenchman artist type.  All wild colors, nothing matching.  All flair and panache.  When you step into a dream which is going to challenge you, you will need that flair of enthusiasm.  Think of the Martin Short character in “Father of the Bride”.  He was so enthusiastic that he could talk you into saying yes to something that you would have never tried.  And the amazing part of it, is that his taste was perfect.  You might have thought it was too much, but in fact it is just right.

Your Life is now. SEIZE IT and make it amazing.
FIND YOUR VOICE.. Believe in Miracles.
Discover your passion and PURSUE IT. Be honest, generous and kind
SURROUND YOURSELF With Love, Laughter and Truth
Let your heart be your guide. INSPIRE someone . . .
MAKE A DIFFERENCE.. Be a hero to someone.
Live Your Dream. Be Brave and Wild at Heart
Take Chances, ASK QUESTIONS
BE FEARLESS. Go on a Adventure.
Drink the Wild Air. Kiss slowly.
THIS IS YOUR TIME
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As you continue down the road of this new dream, this new journey, be aware that you are going to make mistakes.  You are going to get lost.  Make a wrong turn and end up in the wrong neighborhood – it is just as bad to end up in the ghetto as it is to end up in the Richie Rich neighborhood where everyone looks at you with that smirk of disgust of what the cat just dragged in. It is human nature to want to fit in.
“Some people will always throw stones in your path.  It depends on you what you make with them.  Wall or Bridge?  Remember you are the architect of your life . . . ”  – Unknown
You will say yes when you should say no.  You will say no when you should say yes.  Good jobs, bad jobs.  Good relationships and bad ones.  A health crisis or two dozen.  So many things can and will go sideways on you.  Challenge yourself to not pass blame and judgment and instead say –  what can I learn from this experience and how can I do better?  Remember you have a blade to scrape off the paint you don’t like.  You can always repaint your masterpiece over and over until you get it right.
“Live life fully while you’re here.  Experience everything.  Take care of yourself and your friends.  Have fun, be crazy, be weird.  Go out and screw up!  You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process.  Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes:  find the cause of your problem and eliminate it.  Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human”  – Anthony Robbins
Sometimes your masterpiece seems to have a mind of its own.  It just takes off and all of a sudden you see something new in your painting.  Something you will swear you didn’t put there.  No, no, no – that isn’t what you meant to create.  When this happens, take a deep breath.  Just breathe in and take in the whole masterpiece.  Now breathe out and just let it sink in.  Look and see if there isn’t a reason why this just showed up.  Let go of trying to control every single flake of paint.  Dot by Dot you have been painting something you thought was a smile and now it looks like a grimace.  Just let it be for now.  Concentrate on another aspect of your masterpiece and come back to it later.  There may be a reason for this, and if not, you have your paint scrapper.
“I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life’s greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve.  This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent.  As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret”  – Anthony Robbins
Remember that this is your painting.  Your masterpiece.  Keep on painting.  Don’t abandon it because someone else’s painting looks better.  You are not on their journey.  You are on your own.  At the end of the day, the only thing you are responsible for is to be able to say to yourself:
This is the life I dreamed of writing, the masterpiece I longed to paint.  
My life has been a shining star hung high in the heavens. 
The one I reached for when I was young and hopeful. 
The quest is completed, the life has been well lived. 
It has been filled with risks taken, falling down many times, scores of lessons learned. 
While I may have wished for some things to be different, the road took me on many adventures I never dreamed of when I started.
With all things I am blessed.

 

Sheryl Silbaugh

I am married with 4 grown children who are all married and currently have 14 grandchildren and two great granddaughters. I work fulltime as a Director at Bank of America and I am the founder of LemonadeMakers.org, which is a website and Facebook page dedicated to personal transformation and growth. We all have life's lemons show up in our life, this website helps us to make them into lemonade.