Life. It is a big blank canvas. We do not know what each moment will bring. We do not know for sure where we will be tomorrow. Still, there are plenty of opportunities to create a path that is right for you.

Among daily chores, regular commitments, work, study, or martial art practice, there are moments ready to be filled with your hopes and dreams. There are hours to be consumed with passionate dedication, days to be drenched in joy, and months and years to reflect your unique spirit and personality.

You can look at life in two different ways. In one way, it is predictable. It is reality. Your responsibilities demand that you be at different places at certain times. You have habits, schedules, demands and rituals. You wake up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, and head out the door.

The other way to look at life is a blank canvas. Although we have responsibilities, we also have opportunities to live life to its fullest, and to create moments that really mean something. If you talk to a cancer survivor, many come through the experience with a new sense about life. It is short and it is delicate. If you want to really live it you must stretch yourself and make each moment count. Wasted time is not an option for those who understand that life is a gift meant to be cherished.

Moving away from the martial art program that I taught for eight years was a difficult experience because I had watched many of the children grow up. Those hours of teaching were special.

I will not lie, though. Many times I was tired or wished to have a night off because of a long work day beforehand. It never failed, though. Every time I entered the dojang, and every time I saw the faces, I knew the moment was right and I was exactly where I was meant to be. It was as if the blank canvas was filling me, and not vice versa.

Today, I am creating a martial arts concepts program for a corporation to pique the interest of others in the martial art mind, body, spirit balance. Will the program be a success? I do not know. But, I am going to find out.

The blank canvas allows us to see each moment for its beautiful and powerful message. Sitting here writing a blog post is not a drudgery. Sometimes I think I will run out of things to say. Yet, when I begin, the words always flow. That is because I am filling the blank slate with something personal, powerful and meaningful to me – words that can touch and affect the lives of others.

However you decide to paint  your blank canvas and bring your life to creative fulfillment is personal, but not predictable. I would not be The Martial Arts Woman if I had not pushed outside of my comfort zone to write for magazines, create a blog, and write books. Ten years ago none of that existed.

The day I stepped forward beyond my fears of rejection was the day, perhaps even the very moment, when I learned more about myself than ever before. The big blank canvas was coming alive and I was the artist making it happen. I knew there was more work to do, and more to learn about how I can change the world for the better. Writing catapulted me into something far bigger than I ever imagined.

I believe most of us have predictability in our daily lives, but we do not always have the fortitude to make every moment count. Daily life can be tiring. It can push us to complacency. Personal greatness, however, requires you to push through what you find boring and trite, to something more.

This does not mean to you have to do something extraordinary every moment of the day. Rather, it is a reminder to make your moments count. Between the daily chores and responsibilities are wedged colorful opportunities, people, and experiences.

Life is not a perfect space. There are ups and downs throughout. Good and bad experiences come your way. Life hands you nothing. Take control of your blank slate. Step out of your comfort zone and try something new, or bring that one dream to fruition. Forge ahead. Everyone is different. No blank canvas will ever be filled the exact same way.

Tomorrow is not as important as this moment, right now. In one single moment, you can love, smile, dream, sing, dance, kiss, hug, encourage, believe, and give. These simple moments may even grow bigger and expand into hours, days, months and years of personal growth, achievement, and fulfillment. Your happiness and fulfillment can create ripples of positivity to those around you. The colors of your slate will expand and explode with these simple but very significant moments.

I cannot wait to see who you become. Your blank canvas is more and more valuable as it is filled. If you were to buy a one of a kind piece of amazing art by an incredible artist, it could cost millions. Your slate, your life art,  is worth no less. You are capable and worthy of transforming a blank canvas into a breathtaking, ever-changing, colorful and true vision of you.

Keep pushing through,

Andrea

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PICK UP ONE OF MY MOTIVATIONAL AND INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS! 

https://goo.gl/Yco5GF – Martial Art Inspirations for Everyone

https://goo.gl/dGfX1q – The Martial Arts Woman

Keep your eye out for my next book:

****How to Start Your Own Martial Art Program****

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