Life is an art. Just like a painted picture, each scene represents our life. The colours used represent our emotions and each picture that is framed, represents the memories we hold in our minds. Just like an artist creating a painting, life requires a certain level of skill. Though even the most experienced and talented artist can make mistakes or not be entirely content with their work.

The art of living is much the same, at times we may make mistakes, judge something wrong or not be entirely happy with how we've handled a certain situation. This is where acceptance plays an important role, not only in life but throughout our lives. For until we accept a certain situation or an event in our life that has unsettled us, we're unable to deal with it. We'll find it much harder to tackle or overcome, to understand or find a solution. Without acceptance, there's no formula, as our emotions, our thoughts and focus become nothing more than a tangled maze of equations.

Just like an artist painting, the art of living requires a steady hand, a clear focus and stable mind. But with this we also need the ability to accept, acceptance in the form of understanding. We need to understand that in life the scene may change long before the paint is dry. When faced with such a situation or dilemma in life, where you've found yourself at a crossroad, just pause for a moment and look at it from another angle and perspective. Think of yourself as an artist painting a scene in your life. Now when an artist paints and their subject object moves in any way, you'll notice them pause for a while, their eyes refocus as they look at it from a different angle. They’ll adjust the positioning of their head slightly, then apply the brush at a different angle or adjust the texture and shading to accommodate the change.

This is precisely how the art of living works. We as the artist of our lives begin with a blank canvas, and as our life changes the scene will change with us. Its not to give on up when things don't go our way or we feel the challenge of life is too much. There are ways and methods to overcome obstacles we face and mountains we can not move. Yes, we may need to paint another picture or just a variation of one we've painted before, but how many artists do you know who've only ever painted one picture throughout their life. Every job we undertake, a relationship that we enter, our style of driving or preparing a meal, most will be approached differently by the individual. This is another principal shared by the art of living and an artist who paints pictures.

You've heard what they say about artists, each have their own unique style, signature and approach to their creations. As the artist of our own life, the outcome of the portrait depends on how we approached the scene. We all have our own unique way in life, our own signature and style of how we approach things. The art of living is not something we can perfect in a day, a month or a year. A true artist spends a lifetime perfecting their art, always learning, adapting and more importantly accepting when things don't turn out as planned. Life is also tailor made, with only ourselves knowing our true measurements in order for it to fit. A happy artist is a content artist, but even an unhappy one paints. You may ask yourself why, why do something your unhappy with? Well, there's no escaping from the art of living, its a part of life. So when you're faced with an unpleasant scene, don't discard your brush, pause. Your current scene in life may have changed, but the paint is yet to dry. Think back to a point in your life when you've been faced with tough decisions, hard situations or even unimaginable circumstances. Now at those times when you found your life was in a tunnel, searching for the light at the end, yes you found it difficult, even tiring. But this time do as an artist does, pause for a moment and approach any obstacles from a different angle, saying to yourself "I got through those times".

Throughout life you will build yourself up a remarkable portfolio, with many changing scenes and scenarios, but that’s what being an artist is all about.

Life, it is quite simply, The Art of Living.

Life - The Art of Living © Lincoln Patterson 2011. All rights reserved.