Today’s Mandala Message: Keep Getting Better
This week I’m working through Principle #39 from Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” entitled “Stay Focused on Your Core Genius”. I set my intention today to ponder how I continually strive to get better at what I love to do. The essence of this week’s principle is to recognize and focus on your “core genius” (that which is your skill, gift, talent…it’s where you excel) and then delegate other tasks that can be done by others…others for whom those tasks are where they excel.
In helping with determining our core genius, over the last couple of days I’ve been tapping into the StrategicCoach.com post entitled “How To Identify Your Unique Ability With These 6 Tips”. Today I’m feeling pulled to their tip #6: “You can get better and better at this for your whole life … and still find it fascinating. Understanding and honing your Unique Ability is a process that will continue throughout your entire life. The more you use it, the more you’ll sharpen it, and the more you’ll understand its impact. So use it and watch it evolve to help you become the very best version of yourself, and see new opportunities to add your own special kind of value.”
When it comes to my mandala art, I continuously strive to improve on how I create them, how I color / paint them, how I change things up and try new approaches. In the beginning I only used color pencils to color them. Early on I struggled to make “gold” look more realistic so I took a color pencil class and learned all the different ways to use them, thus upping my game and improving the quality of my mandalas.
Over time, I’ve played with acrylics, watercolors, markers, pastels, mixed media, and collage. My mandala styles started out as only symmetrical, then I explored asymmetry. After seeing an M.C. Escher exhibit, I dabbled in hyperbolic tessellation mandalas. Of late I’m exploring more tradition, Tibetan styles. I also created mandalas on a variety of surfaces and in a variety of sizes: from 1.5” square to 48” square. All of this because I keep asking myself “what would happen if I did it ‘this’ way?”
A good mindfulness practice would be to ponder ways you can get better at what you love to do.
So how about you? Do you continually strive to find new ways to do what you love to do? Do you take classes or watch instructional videos to improve on your skills? What new ways can you try to expand on now?
“Do not bother
— William Faulkner
just to be better than
your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself.”
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 