Creativity is Maximized When You're Living in the Moment

Creativity is maximized when you're living in the moment.

~ Lululemon

Life is a work of art. It is a painting that is never finished. It is a blank canvas for you to add the splash of color. Or not. Life is your's for the taking - paint a detailed picture or an abstracted thought of emotion. Just as no work of art is identical to the next, such as life. Create it as your own - the good and bad - it is all there. There is no "redo" button when doing a painting. No "undo" function to take it back a brushstroke. Life is just the same. Each moment that passes us by will never exist in that moment in time ever again. Life is full of second chances, but never is there a moment to truly forget the past. So take the good. The bad. The ugly. Take it all and create a masterpiece - for your life is yours and no one else's to claim.

In this past week - I have been thinking often about my life and what has brought me to today. If my life were a painting - what would it look like? I reckon it'd be one of those famously mysterious pieces that are layer upon layers of different paintings that can only be discovered if someone peeled each layer away. My life can not simply be summed up with one picture. So much has changed since I was a little girl of 8 with big dreams for what will happen when I become "old." And my life is yet to be over - the painting yet to be complete. But already it is fabulous and I know without a doubt it will be a masterpiece - if only it is me that thinks so.

Life is a rollarcoaster ride. There are the ups and the downs. There are the moments you want to be sick and those that make you scream. There are the white-knuckled moments and those of which you raise your hands in the air - you have never felt so free. There are moments in life that everything is turned upside down and you are not sure if you can make it through, but then you do. Life is a rollarcoaster ride - just without the height restriction.

In having a bit of a self-realization session in the past couple of weeks, I feel very much as though I have been on a rollarcoaster ride. I feel as though I have been gritting my teeth as I bump my way up yet another hill - unsure what awaits me when I get to the top. Everything has been building for some time - my job, my relationships, my finances, my life plans and I just don't know what is to come of it all. I know deep down things will work out, but it's the anticipation of waiting to see how much of a climb I have left to go before it does that is freaking me out. I need to just keep reminding myself to be strong in who I am - in what I know.

Life is a box of chocolates. You never know which one you are going to get. You never know what tomorrow will bring so stop worrying about it. Make the most of today. Enjoy which chocolate you happen to receive and stop wishing for the next one. There is always going to be someone with worse life misery than you. Feel blessed for what you have. If you don't - then change. Make a difference. Make a stand. Dream big and never look back - after all, a chocolate is just a chocolate. It's what you do with it that makes it count.

A year ago Alex and I were in Invercargill buying up the stock of a second-hand clothing store in preparation for our Te Araroa Trail finish. I would have never imagined I would be where I am right now and I think that is a good thing. As much as I enjoy dreaming big, I would never really want to know what I am going to be doing in the future. I'd rather just focus on chasing my dreams - let the other cards fall where they may. I just wish I could go back and tell the 13-year-old me that I should have dreamed bigger. Oh-so-much bigger. The possibilities of what life can be are endless and I'm loving it. A year from now? Who knows what will become of me.

Life is a journey. So keep going forward and don't look back. Enjoy the scenery around you - stop to smell the flowers. Learn from your mistakes. Breathe. Climb the mountain - don't go around. The view is so much more spectacular from the top. Don't take shorcuts - you never know what life lessons and pleasures await you around the next corner. Stop wishing for something that is yet to be - just be. Enjoy. Love. Live.

It's true what they say about what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. This week I feel as though I have been made stronger. Sure, there has been an end to a relationship in my life - but through it I have learned more about myself that I ever would have had I not taken the leap. I learned more about what I want out of life - what I want for myself - what I deserve. I learned that it's okay to hold the same high standards for people in my life as what I hold for myself. I learned that it's okay to be me.

Life is a funny thing. From one day to the next so much can change and I think that is what makes it so fascinating. The grass is never greener on the other side. You can never have it all. Dream big but know it is the small things that really matter in life. You only get one chance at this life so make the most of it. It is never to late.