A Different Path

painting. lifePartway through an online painting tutorial we were told the next step was to draw a path that later would be surrounded by trees. The instructor demonstrated how to sketch this. Then she said, “Don’t be concerned with your path looking exactly the same as mine. Everyone’s path will be different.”

I paused the lesson in order to catch up on my painting. Her words, however, remained with me.

My path is my own and will not look the same as anyone else’s. How many times have I been concerned about the differences rather than appreciating the unique path I travel? Just because my journey isn’t the same as yours doesn’t make either one of us wrong.

I have experienced frustration and disappointment when I’ve attempted to follow in the exact footsteps of someone I admired and not achieved the same results.

My faulty reasoning said if you were successful, then my success will follow when I duplicate your steps.
I failed to take into consideration that I am not you. My skillset and life experience vary from yours. Our definitions of success may also differ. We can learn from each other and adapt these lessons to create our own unique path.

Sometimes I’m a slow learner. It took me a long time to figure out what was most important to me. Only then could I create a life of abundance and enjoy the diversions rather than striving to reach what I thought my goal should be.

Now I’m creating my path as I travel and it’s taking me to some amazing places. The picture of my life has less stress and is far more colour as it evolves into the work of art it was meant to be.

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