The Fear…
Have you ever sat down with a blank canvas and tried to paint a picture? It can be one of the most daunting tasks put forth to achieve. What do I draw? I am not a professional! What will people think of my painting? One of the great discoveries is the paint by number paint kits. Someone does the hard work of drawing for you and picks out the colors. All you have to is follow the directions and boom instant painting. If you someone dislikes your painting you have a built in scapegoat.
Paint by number life…
Our lives are blank canvases and we are faced with a choice, create our own life, or allow others to design our life and we just follow the directions. It is much easier to allow someone to design your life because just like the painting it gives you an easy scapegoat for the critics. Unfortunately, with most people the bank canvas is too scary and intimidating and we settle for a less than original life. We allow fear of what people will think about us and our life to control our decisions way too often. The problem is living a paint by number if brings about dissatisfaction and a life that is unfulfilled. A life controlled by critics is a life lived walking in circles and getting no where.
Overcoming the paint by number life…
Grab a journal and wrestle with some of these questions:
- Are you living a life designed by someone else?
- Are you just following a prescribed life that someone else signed?
- What are you afraid of?
- What would your life if you designed it yourself?
The artist inside you…
There is no one else in the world like you so don’t settle living a life like everyone else. You have something to offer this world that no one else does. There will be critics and they will be loud but they don’t count. They are living a paint by number life of dissatisfaction. Tune them out and let’s all live a life unlike anyone else.
One thought on “Are you living a paint by number life?”