Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do. Edgar Degas
Look at the handiwork of children when they are given crayons and a drawing book. They will gleefully paint the most audacious colors for the objects in the pictures and the parents will praise their efforts as a masterpiece.. The effort of the child is simple in form, often shabby in appearance and lavishly praised. All concerned are happy simply because we give due allowance for the child’s age and understanding. As we grow up we suddenly realize that painting is an art form of a very high order requiring expertise, flair and a sound knowledge. The effect of style, medium, light and shades can elevate the art form to a near mystique status. All of a sudden the whole business of art takes on a new dimension and the nuances of the same suddenly come to haunt us.
The same is so true of life too. We go through life, just making demands of our elders particularly parents and grandparents. We cringe when they have expectations from us on the academic front. Soon when we get to competitive exams we realize that the world is a much bigger place, the contestants formidable and the challenge intense. This realization brings on a sense of urgency and propels us into taking proactive measures to ensure that we have a realistic chance to finish the rat race. Knowledge makes us painfully aware of our own limitations, the width of the canvas suddenly looks ominous and the masterpiece in our mind now looks well neigh impossible to capture on canvas.
When in love we only see the romantic moon but shortly after marriage when the mirage of honeymooning is over, we see stars twinkling in the distance but the moon seems to have disappeared behind a cloud. Falling in love is easy for the commitment is limited, the challenges ahead distant and the rational mind is clouded by love. Marriage changes this status and we get enlightened about the real world, the real challenges and the real cost of love. Life then is a reality to be lived, a spouse becomes a human being with independent thoughts and behavior and we find ourselves adrift together with the challenge to swim or sink together. Deciding on the direction of the shore itself becomes a bone of contention and rowing in sync looks more difficult with each passing day; we wistfully wonder if those carefree days of just being in love will return to us again. This is crunch time when we need to put our learning to the test, dunk our egos, find common ground for progress and relish the togetherness now and for eternity. Within your HeART lies the ART of painting a colorful life of togetherness.
Remember: Ignorance is bliss; till knowledge knocks open your senses to reality.
Try these:
- Go around asking people for a feedback about yourself. Encourage them to give you negative feedback too. It will be a challenging process, for you may not agree with the negative feedback and may be tempted to make an enemy of those who gave you such feedback Resist all such temptation but make sure you reflect on the feedback and try to improve your areas of weakness.
- List out your strengths. Compare this list with the feedback list. If there are contradictions pay close attention to them and try to reconcile your actions and behavior to ensure the feedback is not wasted. Ask yourself if you have fully utilized your strengths. Find ways and means of using your strengths more often.
This post is courtesy www.actspot.com
You are also invited to visit our WEEKLY Inspirational and Motivational Blog www.poweract.blogspot.com
