Today’s Mandala Message: Overcome a limiting belief
This week I’m working through Principle #33 from Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” entitled “Transcend Your Limiting Beliefs”. I set my intention today to ponder overcoming a limiting belief. Canfield suggests making a list of any (and all) limiting beliefs that are limiting us. He then offers the following steps to overcoming limiting beliefs:
- Choose a limiting belief from the list
- How does it limit you?
- Declare how you want to be, act, or feel
- Create a turnaround statement that affirms or gives you permission to be, act, or feel in this new way
I made a preliminary list and from it (1) I chose “I can only be considered a successful artist if I’m making a living at it.” This is a huge one for me. When I’m selling my art at fairs, I’m often asked “do you make a living doing this?” I know most people ask out of curiosity but from others I have the sense that they only that making art is only worthwhile if you can make a living at it. Enought of that…on to the remaining steps.
(2) One way this limits me is that I end up making less art. I can hear a part of me saying “why bother make anything, if I can’t sell it or enough of it to make a living”. The other way it limits, and is probably far worse, is I end up making art that I think will sell instead of making art for the sake of creating art. In other worlds, I lose some of my integrity; I’m not being true to my art or the art that wants to be created.
(3) I want to be considered a successful artist regardless of whether I sell anything or make a living at it. I want to be/feel successful by the mere fact that I’m able to create art; that that is enough for me. I’m reminded of Van Gogh. He is considered one of the world’s greatest artist without ever making a living at it…I think he only sold one piece in his lifetime. I feel inspired by and resonate with these quotes attributed to him:
“Art is to console those
— Vincent van Gogh
who are broken by life.”
–
“I try more and more to be myself,
caring relatively little
whether people approve or disapprove.”
–
“I want to touch people with my art.
I want them to say
‘he feels deeply, he feels tenderly’.”
–
“I am always doing
what I cannot do yet,
in order to learn how to do it.”
(4) My turnaround statement: I allow myself to create art for the sake of creating art; to create as I feel inspired to create— from my heart, from my soul. _This_ is what makes me a successful artist.
A good mindfulness practice would be to converse with a limiting belief.
So how about you? Have you made a list of your limiting beliefs? Are you open to trying Canfield’s process? Which limiting belief would you pick first?
“If you accept
— Louise Hay
a limiting belief,
then it will become
a truth for you.”
Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
All Things Mandalas
An Invitation
I invite you to color along with me this year as part of what I’m calling “The Year of Self-Exploration and Expansion” with all of my “Mandalas of the ___” (day, week, month, year). If you’re interested in more of a self-exploration approach to coloring, check out my “Coloring Mandalas as Meditation”. You can download this mandala at MandalaoftheWeek.com.
Mandala of the Day 