I am not an artist, but . . . . learning to paint a masterpiece

This week is my 12-year-old son's birthday! He is the best kid. He gets along with everyone, has the best laugh, and loves sports more than anything.

If you've been following along you've probably noticed I've mentioned my three other children in these emails. He would tell you that this is typical because he's the 'middle child.' He loves to say that he is the true middle child, even though I have 4 kids, because his sister (#3 of 4) is the only girl, therefore, making her not a middle child :).

He has painted quite a picture in his mind that being the middle child is totally unfair and he gets forgotten, and he's not special because he has an older brother, a younger brother, and a sister, so he is the odd man out.

His painting is a work in progress though, so he spends a lot of time looking around for more paint (AKA evidence that these thoughts are, in fact, true) to add to his painting and he just keeps on painting. His paint includes things like:

"he never had to do that,"

"she always gets to do that,"

or "I never get to...."

Every time he thinks something along those lines, he is working on his masterpiece painting.

Here's the thing, he's not the only one that does this. We all do!!

We all love to create these amazing paintings that we then want to show, and tell everyone about. We hang them in clear view so everyone can see them. We think these paintings define us, so we want everyone to know.

BUT.....a lot of times these paintings are causing us some pain. They are not allowing us to see that there is other really beautiful art available. That there is different paint {thoughts} available that we could use.

We can choose to change our painting whenever we want.

I have decided that I need to repaint a painting I've been working on for a few months now. This painting is weighing me down, it is not bringing joy to my life, it is not the story I want to define my life right now.

It can be hard to pick up a paintbrush and start over, so I'm just doing it one stroke at a time. Yesterday I decided to find one way to prove my former thought incorrect, just one! My brain is still convinced that my original painting is gorgeous and doesn't need changing, so it is going to try to show me all the evidence to the contrary.

That's okay, the more strokes I paint, the easier it will get.

Think about the painting you have created that illustrates your life.

Does it look like what you want?

Does it need some changing?

How can you start painting new strokes?

Make your painting the one you want hanging right as someone enters your house - make it truly you!