Every Day A Masterpiece

(I’m writing something every* day for #100days. This is post 90/100.)

Legendary coach John Wooden’s father gave him a seven-point creed to live by:

“1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Count and give thanks for your blessings every day.”

The second is the most difficult to make real.

Think what your life would be like if every day was a masterpiece.

The commute. The small talk. The back ache. The subtle over-eating. The fatigue. Those unflattering reflections in the mirror. Those moments of weakness.

A masterpiece?

How do you carve a masterpiece from all that mundanity?

Assuming it is possible. Assuming that life can be a masterpiece, then two things become true.

First, each of us must define how that masterpiece might look.

A loving partner, a sunset walk, connected hours of deep effort and output.

A morning run, a meal to savour, the company of your loving friends or children.

If we were all given the power to make each day a masterpiece, most of us would have now idea how to harness it.

We wouldn’t know where to begin.

The second thing, is that a masterpiece takes preparation.

It’s unlikely that a masterpiece will just appear from a series of reactionary moments, with no preparedness.

Against the masterpiece test, most days fail.

That may always be the case.

But if it were indeed true and possible, then the first two things you’d do would be define and prepare.

No amount of planning or preparation could be deemed wasteful on the road to a masterpiece every day.

What would a masterpiece day look like for you?

And what would you have to do to make masterpiece days happen habitually?