Have you ever seen a painting in a gallery that made you stop and take a longer look? What about a book - when you were done reading it, did you put it down immediately or hold it close to you as if to absorb what you had just read into your soul? Did you ever finger a fine piece of needlework and trace the lines slowly so that the sensory luxury could be remembered?

All these incidents bring together a very important part of life - something catches your eye, you want to remember it, and to recall it brings pleasure. Now, what about your life? Everyday life starts out with a blank canvas. We are handed the brushes and paints so that we can create a masterpiece of beauty or a cheap imitation of some fine piece of living. The pages of our book are blank and the bare cloth waits for our artistic touch.

What we paint, write, or create depends on who we are and what we want to accomplish with our lives. Some people do spectacular landscapes, while others stay within the realm of “stick” people. Some will pen sonnets and great literary volumes, while others are content with over-the-counter, weekly gossip papers. A skilled craftsman will take the needle of his very existence and embroider a fine tapestry, while others would rather use paper towels.

The one thing that we all have is the same 24 hours, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. No one else is given more, and no one is given less. Its like a bank account, where 24 hours is deposited daily into your account, for your use, in any way you choose. At the end of the day, some will have added a profit, others will have taken a loss. The only constant is that tomorrow another 24 hours will be added and the choice will again be yours.

Well, you may say, life is not fair with me. I don’t have the opportunities, the luck, or the contacts other people have. My financial situation is not what I would like it to be so that I could accomplish better things. I never have enough time and I have too many commitments.

No, everyone’s account is not the same in the long run. However, they started out with the same deposit of 24 hours, and made their decisions to withdraw, invest, or gamble with whatever came their way. They made their choices and you made yours. Sometimes they were bad investments of time and other instances, a profit was made.

The one thing we all have is our ability to choose. We make up the decisions that shape our lives, the masterpieces of art or the menial attempts at painting. “Fine for you to say that I have the ability to choose, but I need to work two jobs just to feed my family. The bills are growing, the kids are uncooperative, and life sucks.”

This is quite a statement when you hear it. Its quite devastating when you say it. Let’s get back to that painting. Notice the different shades of color, the subtle hues, and the muted brush strokes. You see, the more effort we have to put into our choices, and the more innovative we have to become to make ends meet, the more color and highlights our picture will have. The words in our book will be more endearing and heart-felt, and our tapestry will have features that will make it truly a one-of-a-kind treasure, a masterpiece of a life.

Obstacles are there so that we can learn to go around them, through them or eliminate them. We can ignore them as well, but then this creates a paint smudge, an incorrect sentence, or a slipped stitch.

The person who seems to have it all before we even get started may sit back and marvel at his creative endeavor, and the world may stand up and applaud. But upon further inspective, the cheering crowds will see that it is only surface beauty, that it is faulty workmanship, and will not stand up to the test of time.

In the long run, when all the paintings, books, and pieces of art are collected, the judging criteria will place the blue ribbon, or the gold medal on the one that has all the qualities that it takes to be labeled a true masterpiece. There will be no excuses for shoddy workmanship, or quick-fixes. There will be the final results, and there will be the final judging. The contest will be over and the best works of art will walk away with the cherished trophies.

So, do we sit back and feel sorry for ourselves, or do we pick up that brush, that pen and that thread and start on what will be the story of our life. It will be the gallery picture that everyone will want to take a closer look at and admire.

It will be the book that others will take to heart and hold dear, and it will be the fine embroidery of a life well spent, that will look just as good on the opposite side with all the threads in fine lines, as it does on the top.

What will your masterpiece be? Only you can make that choice, only you can choose the colors, the words, and the strokes. Only your name is on that bank account of time. What you do and how you do it, will be your choice. Will you be proud to sign your name to your work of art, or will you scribble something illegible because you really don’t want to own up to what you have created? The choice is yours.

©Arleen M. Kaptur 2002 All Rights Reserved