Paint
I have found myself in the pattern of avoidance lately. The thing that I am putting off isn’t what I am avoiding, but it is a step away from what I am avoiding. So I keep finding something that is more important to do, thus postponing what I am actually avoiding. It is a simple thing to get done, but I keep finding something that my mind says must be done first.
Sound familiar? I avoid this thing because my mind is saying “I can’t paint” – now the actual painting isn’t hard – you just dip the brush in the paint and let the paints flow across the canvas. But the mind that wants to avoid it says – what if you don’t get the brush strokes right? What if the colors blend together and just look like mud? What if you get paint all over the floor or yourself? What if it isn’t the right kind of paint or brush? You don’t really know what you are doing, so first we need some books to read or maybe a dvd that will teach us, or maybe we need a teacher, only right now I can’t really afford one, so I will plan this for the next payday. And so on, and so on.
All of the “excuses” sound pretty good – I mean you want to do a good job right? And you need to make sure that you have the right equipment; the right teachers; the right ….., always something else to add to the list. And it is really more important that you get all of the chores done before you go play with paints. So instead of painting and silencing that voice in your head, you allow that voice to keep telling you that you have much higher priorities in your life right now and later, when the kids grow up, or your job gets easier, when you have more time – then you will paint.
Only what happens is that perfect time never comes, and so that not so perfect painting will never get done.
Instead – try everything once
color outside the lines
dance when people are looking
play in the rain
be the change you wish to see in the world and most important of all
don’t count the minutes, count the laughs – (starting with laughing at yourself for being so silly and trust that you will do that thing you are avoiding just perfectly!)
