False Starts and Weak Promises Keep us from Finishing the Race

"A scene from my backyard. A great egret fishing."

In my guest closet is an unfinished quilt, a box of ideas for future paintings, and some amateur canvases that I’ve painted over waiting in the wings. I have an online folder titled: “To Paint” with saved photos, sketches, and ideas I don’t as yet feel passionate about. All are immobile. I'm hoping I'll get inspired and catch the spark that will burst into fire when the time is right.

Third prize ribbon for "Swamp Angel" at juried show.

It’s easy to start something. It’s not so easy to finish. We all have unfinished dreams, goals, and projects that never reach their conclusion. There are many reasons for this: we burn out, we lose the vision we had in the beginning. Sometimes we run up against obstacles that prevent us from finishing: ill health, financial problems, lack of education, emotional crises, etc.

Several ibis sneak in behind to forage on the outer perimeter of the lake.

Commitment is a promise we make to ourselves. Those uncompleted goals and unfinished projects that fill unused spaces in our homes and in our minds lack our commitment. Somewhere along the way, we lost our passion; we lost our drive. Like mirrors, they shine in the dark corners of our hearts and reflect back only our failures.

It’s time to turn those “dark hearts” into windows of opportunity. There must have been a reason those sad projects remained unfinished. Perhaps they were diversions from your real goals, the ones that capture your passion and lead to their completion?

A flock of cormorants, two woodstorks and a heron join the feathered throng.

It’s time to clean house! Don’t let those partially finished items drag you down. Paint over them, give them to someone else, or toss them out! A Fresh start will give you a clean slate to re-think your goals and your commitment. If these discarded dreams don’t grab you and inspire you then turn to something else that does.

Change is refreshing. It shakes things up and turns them on end. But before you make a clean sweep be certain that you know what you want and where you’re going. If you don’t, you’ll become a backslider and end up filling the empty places in your heart and home with more of the same.

This heart-shaped collectible is on sale on E-Bay. Search Popeye Collectibles; AnfinsenArt