The Wisdom Of One Day At A Time
ADVANCE CONFIDENTLY!
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” ~Vincent Van Gogh
Masterpieces are created one word, one note, one brushstroke, and finally, one day at a time. The wizards that flew around in an author’s head found their way to the page, one word at a time. Amazing Grace became amazing, one note at a time. Mona Lisa’s smile was created one brush stroke at a time…
Each of these well-known creations, just like everything else in the world, were all created, one day at a time. They were cultivated from thought, fertilized with effort, tended with daily activity, and finally, after a consistent daily commitment to their finish, they were abandoned first and only then harvested, because as the great Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
Da Vinci represents the essence of everything my “ADVANCE CONFIDENTLY” mantra stands for. He was a writer, poet, musician, sculptor, scientist, painter, mathematician, botanist, engineer, geologist, inventor, cartographer, and author. Leonardo had an I can do anything and everything kind of mindset and I believe the reason he was able to do so many things was because he simply made a commitment to try!
It should be noted however that anything Leonardo either did or attempted to do, was not done in a rush or all at once, but instead, one day at a time.
The one thing we don’t know is “how” he managed to do all the things he did. What we do know though, are some of the things we can learn from his UNSTOPPABLE, do-it-all style. One of the things said about Da Vinci, other than perhaps being called crazy, was that he didn’t understand the word impossible. It wasn’t part of his vocabulary. The word had no relevance in his life.
One of my mentors has a great saying that came to him from his mentor who said, Michael, “Everything is neutral until you label it.” We are the ones assigning value to our experiences. We are the ones labeling the good, the bad, and the ugly. There is no way for us to initially know whether something is good or bad. Good and bad are words we assign in the moment based on our interpretation of the experience.
Wayne Dyer, who was clearly a student of life, once stated, “No one knows enough to be a pessimist.”
Here’s some more Wayne Dyer WISDOM:
“Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing.”
“When YOU change the way you look at things the things you look at change.”
“As you think so shall you be.”
Wrought with despair, a man found himself admitted to an asylum. In the early days of his stay, most of his time was spent laying on his bed in the dark. After a bit, he grew a little stronger and eventually ventured out onto the grounds where he discovered a garden. It was here, in the silence and without the daily pressures of everyday life that he noticed the blossom on an apple tree, the journey of a caterpillar making its way across a leaf, and the gnarled roots of a Southern Pine.
When spring came, it was the bloom of a group of purple irises that garnered his full attention and brought him back from the edge where he had once helplessly stood next to a puddle of blood and his desperate attempt to remove his ear from his head.
The transcendent beauty of everyday life was captured eloquently in a vase full of some of those beautiful irises that came from the garden where his recovery unfolded, where he slowly found himself again, struggling toward the end of the day, hopefully not trying to harm himself, and putting the pieces back together, “One Day At A Time.”
In my own life, it was my decision to approach recovery day by day that has methodically allowed me to slowly but surely accumulate over 11,190 days of sobriety, “One Day At A Time.”
And finally, if I may leave you with a parting thought, a point of reflection from the great Walt Whitman, the four words with the potential to change the world as we know it.
“Be curious, not judgmental.” ~Walt Whitman
Deb Sofield ~ Public Speaker I was happy to find your article while searching the web for material to support this article. #Grateful for YOU and your work.
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
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In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
