Here’s wishing all arts and crafters a blessed new year and may your creative juices flow in 2018.

At the beginning of every new year, we all have an innate feeling of, ‘out with the old and in with the new’.  The reality is, our old habits always re-surface after a few days.  I think we should change our view of a new year and rather approach it with the knowledge of our past failures and move forward with the mindset to improve ourselves.

We all have our own unique strengthens and weaknesses. The question is, how do we improve on that?  After many years of research, it finally hit me!  No matter how brutal this can be, we need to be sincerely honest to yourselves and our circumstances.  When we do this, then we are at the crevice of change.  There is no such thing as perfection, therefore can be no comparisons.  There is only ONE of you.

I have started to address the lack of self-discipline on my “less best” list, which is a mind skill. Some people think that they are born with more of it than the rest of us, but this is a skill that can be taught to all.  God said in His Word: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline”.  So, this is a gift offered to each and every one of us. How do we receive something? The answer is simple – we need to ask for it.

Bear with me, we are not on an emotional healing webpage, we are still talking recycle craft.  As a recyclable object cries out for second chance, so do we need a second chance in life.  We are emotional people and our emotional state determines what our creative outlooks will be.  Creativity is emotionally inspired.  We create the way we feel.

I have been blessed to work with many creative people from all different walks of life and this has given me insight, understanding and knowledge.  I have used other people’s behaviour for self-discovery and I do not judge anyone in this blog. I do not ask questions like, why is juggle so easy for some but impossible for another? Rather ask the juggler how long he has been a juggler and you will probably get an answer like that of the golfer Gary Player, “I hit 1000 balls every morning for 15 years until my fingers started to bleed, went back to the clubhouse to treat them and then I was ready for another 1000”. Now that is self-discipline!

If you want to be good or improve on your “less best” list, you must discipline yourself. Self-discipline takes dedication, time and focus to get to the end result.  Nothing in life that is easily obtained is worth having.  Self-discipline is a hard lesson, but with the grace given to us, we can succeed.  Be gentle on yourself and do not set unrealistic milestones. With each successful milestone set your sights on a harder goal. You know your weaknesses but be bold and act on self-discipline to improve as a crafter and recycler.

Blessings to all