“Believe in yourself!
Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in
your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”
Norman Vincent Peale
Native Honor
The following excerpt from a story that’s been around the
internet and on Facebook countless times is from the blog “Positive Outlooks”
which provides daily uplifting, affirming or inspiring quotes and memes, most
of which show up on Facebook regularly. But this little reflections contains
such an important lesson that I wanted to share it with you and then ask you to
comment on what you think. Here’s the intro and the link (the story is only a
few lines more)…and then come back if you will and read my short commentary and
poem…plus a giveaway offer I hope you are going to want to take advantage of.
The post was from more than a year ago, entitled, “The Seeds of Failure or
The Potential for Greatness.”
The story begins, “High on a hilltop overlooking the
beautiful city of Venice, Italy, there lived an old man who was a genius.
Legend had it he could answer any question anyone might ask of him. Two of the
local boys figured they could fool the old man, so they caught a small bird and
headed for his residence…”
Read the rest at: http://positiveoutlooksblog.com/2013/11/01/the-seeds-of-failure-or-the-potential-for-greatness/
Now that’s the kind of wisdom one would expect from Eastern
philosophy…often the greatest lessons on virtue and the “eight-fold path” or
the good life were hidden within a story. But in our own Western culture, we’ve
had the same foundations – biblical parables or Aesop’s Fables or stories like
this one of unknown origin – which caution us against self-destructive behavior
and advocate some virtue like compassion, patience, or persistence. In this
case, the lesson is a powerful one for an artist or a writer…you have to
believe in yourself, recognize that you and you alone have the power to turn
possibility into reality. How many of us are still saying, “Well, I’d like to be
a writer or an artist someday?” Or, “I dabble at art or writing but I’m really
just an amateur and I’m not in the same league as ‘real’ artists?” As I’ve said
elsewhere, it isn’t at all about how many sales you’ve had or how many times
you’ve been published…lots of really lousy artists sell a lot…lol. They are
commercially successful but definitely not great. Greatness is a matter of your
own mindset – how you see yourself, the commitment you have to what you’re
doing and the value you see in doing it. Some time ago, I wrote this short poem
about that kind of faith:
BELIEVE
Believe though there is no evidence that you should;
hope when all reason for hope has been exhausted;
love beyond all the obstacles that seem insurmountable;
trust when repeated betrayal makes that unrealistic;
forgive beyond the measure of the deepest wounds;
affirm others even though they attempt to diminish you.
If you can do these things, then you will have found –
the
depths which your enlightened soul can plumb,
the
breadth which your open heart can encompass,
the
heights to which your enlivened spirit can soar,
and you will have realized your own true and fully human
self.
As the story concluded, “In your hands you hold the seeds of
failure or the potential for greatness. Your hands are capable but they must be
used – and for the right things – to reap the rewards you are capable of
attaining.” I’m going to try believing in myself – and in you – and together, I’m
betting incredible things can happen for us this year.
Artist spotlight for today - you'll want to see the incredible talent of Meg Shearer in her very detailed and delightful pen and ink sketches that range from English villages to humorous pelicans. I'm in awe of her abilities - check her out on her Fine Art America gallery.
SPECIAL OFFER: If you scroll down to the bottom of this page
you’ll see a button that says “JOIN THIS SITE” (I’m guessing that’s with
Google+ but there are other options) But here’s the offer and I
hope it’s an incentive you’d like to take advantage of – When my membership
hits 15 people who join publicly, I’m going to randomly select one of you and
send you free of charge a small art print of your choice from my Fine ArtAmerica or my Trillium Gallery portfolio. I’ll repeat the process again at the
30 member mark and so on. I believe I can contact you through your gravatar and
leave it to you to choose your print and provide mailing information. If I can’t…I’ll
figure out something…I promise. I’m not a technical wizard but I’m persistent.
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