Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Is a can do attitude always the best attitude?

For some reason I've always had a can do attitude. If someone said you can't do that, I'd reply " I can, and I will!" - But can we always do what we think we can?

During my life I've don't remember my parents telling me I could be or do anything I wanted to. Perhaps it is genetic, or learned by observation. My grandmother had only a 6th grade education, and could not read or write very well. But, she could look at a crochet pattern, and duplicate it. She made the most amazing pineapple dollies and rose bedspreads just from looking at a picture.  I saw my mother hang wall paper and paint and draw and do household carpentry. So, was this my foundation for later years?

When I was thirty, my husband and I decided we wanted to live in the country with some land. So, we started looking for land. A realtor told us no bank would lend on land without 50% down. Well, we didn't have 50% down. So, we looked on our own. Found six acres with owner financing.
Then we sold our home ourselves and told our parents we were moving to the country. They were shocked - told us we were crazy.  Had we ever built a home before? No, but we could read books!
It took several years to build - but it came out so beautifully- we made a large profit and moved to FL.

So, now I'm on this art kick. After that bit of inspiration at the gallery in Cedar Key, I decided I could paint better than that, so I plunged in and purchased a ton of supplies. Sure enough - I could paint, and not only that I could sell!

But back to the question- is that I can do attitude always the best attitude? I recently had some
requests for hand painted pet portraits on Christmas ornaments. Sure, I can and I will! So, off
I go to the store. Spent $120.00 on supplies. But, my FB friend Cassie cautions me - hon, it isn't that
easy. HMMM- perhaps I can't. Am I having a change of attitude? I search the internet for hours  and come up without any good information.  The only ornaments I can find are shiny glass balls, will the paint stick? I know I can paint tiny -but as Cassie says that isn't the issue. But with my attitude - I'm
cautious, yet optimistic. I search for some more products to aid in my  new quest. Could not find any
acrylic medium for glass -but did find a couple of products that might help.  So, can I? We will
have to wait and see.

So, the next time you have doubts - remember even us can do people sometimes have doubts, but
don't let those doubts stop you in your tracks. Push forward and learn something new. Even if it
ends up to be a mistake - sometimes learning from our mistakes are the best lessons in life.

1 comment:

  1. An excellent article - many good points. Thanks for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete

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