I just love those “Aha!” moments in life. Those moments where the puzzle almost puts itself together and all you have to do is sit back and smile. If you’ve been keeping up with this blog you know that I started painting watercolors after a 27+ year hiatus. When you’ve been away from something so long, even though you still remember the basics, it takes some time to get back in the groove.
Getting back into the groove however, is not an automatic process. You have to keep plugging away at the puzzle. You have to keep working the pieces over and over again. You get those first two pieces to fit and there is that rush of excitement. Since there are 678 pieces, the rush soon begins to fade. How am I ever going to get all those pieces to fit? Easy…you just show up every day and get more pieces to fit.
Showing up has nothing to do with feeling like it…showing up is all about one simple task…showing up. You don’t paint because you feel like it or not paint because you’re just not feeling it. No, you just show up…pick up your brush and paint. Showing up doesn’t mean you get a Gold Star…it doesn’t mean you get warm fuzzy feelings. Showing up is just showing up and paying attention to the task in front of you…something which I have to confess I had to relearn.
Show up…you just keep showing up. You pick up the brush and start throwing paint around. Sometimes it looks like progress is being made…sometimes it looks like a dried up turd. But it doesn’t matter…cause nobody is keeping count. You just show up and pick up the brush and throw paint around.
Then it happens, like it did for me today…you get goose-bumps…cause it all suddenly comes together. You can see it…you can almost taste it. A rush of euphoria races through your veins…AHA! To re-write an old song, “I can see clearly now the doubt is gone…it’s going to be a bright, bright sun shiny day…” And you pull out that fresh sheet of white watercolor paper…you setup your paints…you pick up a brush….God, I love those “AHA” moments.
And you know what? Isn’t that what anything in our lives is about? Whether or not we are willing to just show up. We have to show up, fully present and focused to the day that is before us. When we do…those “AHA” moments will keep coming and coming. So…keep showing my friends…keep showing up. 🙂