Inspiration for a joyful and creative life

The other night my husband and I decided to explore in our own town. We drove about 20 minutes south and felt like we were in the mountains. The curving roads were lined with pine trees and it felt like a mini-vacation.

We stopped at The Village at Castle Pines to see if there was a restaurant we’d like to try.

It was evening and most of the shops were closed. One of them caught my eye that looked intriguing called The Garden Path.

The sign still said open and we went in to have a look.

It turns out they really were closed but hadn’t changed the sign yet. We were about to leave but they were very nice and insisted we could look around.

It was a lovely floral and gift shop with beautiful things, and of course gorgeous flowers. One thing we noticed was there was an easel in the corner of the shop.

We asked the owner if she was the artist.

It turns out that the artist is a long time friend of the owners and when they moved their shop to a bigger space, she asked (or they asked her) if she would like to set up her art in the corner.

It is a wonderful win-win situation for the artist, Cheris Liedel, and the shop owner. Along with their beautiful flowers and gifts, they can offer her pastel paintings and cards.

It gives the artist exposure and a place to work. And she also helps them when they need an extra hand, like when they get a big order for corsages.

Is there a complimentary space or place that would be a great fit for your work?

This is continuing the conversation in the series Ten Reasons NOT to have what you want.

You know to get what you want won’t happen overnight. Maybe you think you should have started earlier, then maybe you would have a chance.

You may think that you can’t have what you want because it will take too long.

There is a story of the woman who said she couldn’t get a college degree because she was too old and it would take her 5 years to get it. But someone told her that in 5 years from now, she’ll still be 5 years older, just without the degree.

What if something does take you longer than you planned?

Is that really the reason you can’t do it or is it that you are afraid? There may be reasons you are anxious but will you regret it more if you never try?

I’ll admit I get frustrated that things always seem to take me much longer than I think they will. Sometimes it is just because I don’t really know when I start out what all is involved so I didn’t factor in the extra time it would take.

Other times, it may be that I’m dragging my heels on getting something done because my perfectionist personality insists that it’s not done yet. Sometimes it is better getting something out than to wait until it’s perfect. That’s a tough one for me. The ironic part is, of course, it is never perfect so it becomes yet another excuse.

How long is too long for something you really care about?

I’ve always thought that patience and persistence are two undervalued qualities to getting what you want.

We live in a fast paced society where instant isn’t fast enough.

We also have the misconception that everyone else has overnight success. If you really look at the stories of those with “overnight” success, you’ll find it usually took them years of practice, patience, and persistence.

If you are putting off your dreams because you think it will take too long, where will you be 5 years from now?