Eight months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 246. Yesterday, I talked about building character. Today is a new day.
We're all born with talents that we can either choose to develop or let rot in a corner. We're born with a beautiful garden to tend to, but when we neglect it the flowers wilt and that remains are weeds that could've been lush and fragrant roses. I'm not saying that I'm particularly gifted in art, but any skill can be learned with enough effort and determination. Without pushing myself to get better I'll never be able to develop the skills required to become a master at any craft. Mastery is more than just technical skill though. There's also its ability to instill emotion and convey its message to others. If it isn't appealing in some way, then I think it lacks a fundamental human element that keeps it from being understood and relatable.
Contests like this serve as a means of gauging how far you've come in finding a balance in both skills and how much you still have to learn. Not only will I be competing with myself, but I'll be able to see the creativity and skill of others, too. So even if I don't win, there's still something to be gained from the experience: perspective. Doing nothing grants me nothing, so I might as well try doing something.
Whatever the pursuit may be there are always opportunities for us to learn from others and improve our own craft. It could be a meet up with like-minded people, a science fair, a recital, or reading about other people's work and experiences. Every time we challenge ourselves and do our best at something we're planting a seed that creates the habit for success. We're conditioning ourselves to be great and it ends up affecting how we approach everything. As the seeds are nurtured we develop a strong foundation, and all of the hard work we put in manifests itself in ways that let us accomplish our goals. Our garden grows and expands to become something even more beautiful.
Go hard and make some dreams happen.
Peace
"Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds." - Gordon B. HinckleyI did my weekly skype call with my parents today and my mom mentioned a bag-design contest for a local Asian food market in the Seattle area. Knowing that I like art, she encouraged me to enter (she really just wants the gift card prize so she can buy food), and it's come at a good time since I'm trying to find ways to exercise my creativity and challenge myself. Being a contest, I really have to put in all of my effort if I want to make something impactful and inspirational.
We're all born with talents that we can either choose to develop or let rot in a corner. We're born with a beautiful garden to tend to, but when we neglect it the flowers wilt and that remains are weeds that could've been lush and fragrant roses. I'm not saying that I'm particularly gifted in art, but any skill can be learned with enough effort and determination. Without pushing myself to get better I'll never be able to develop the skills required to become a master at any craft. Mastery is more than just technical skill though. There's also its ability to instill emotion and convey its message to others. If it isn't appealing in some way, then I think it lacks a fundamental human element that keeps it from being understood and relatable.
Contests like this serve as a means of gauging how far you've come in finding a balance in both skills and how much you still have to learn. Not only will I be competing with myself, but I'll be able to see the creativity and skill of others, too. So even if I don't win, there's still something to be gained from the experience: perspective. Doing nothing grants me nothing, so I might as well try doing something.
Whatever the pursuit may be there are always opportunities for us to learn from others and improve our own craft. It could be a meet up with like-minded people, a science fair, a recital, or reading about other people's work and experiences. Every time we challenge ourselves and do our best at something we're planting a seed that creates the habit for success. We're conditioning ourselves to be great and it ends up affecting how we approach everything. As the seeds are nurtured we develop a strong foundation, and all of the hard work we put in manifests itself in ways that let us accomplish our goals. Our garden grows and expands to become something even more beautiful.
Go hard and make some dreams happen.
Peace
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| It may be a struggle to grind away at something every day and it may feel like we're not making any progress, but every second we dedicate ourselves to something puts us one step closer to completing our masterpiece. |
What are you working on? What kind of garden do you want to grow?
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