I’m not finished with my coloring page…and that’s OK

Today is Monday, August 14, the day we’re supposed to share our coloring pages. Only I’m not finished. That’s important. Let me tell you why…

Yesterday at noon, I realized I hadn’t finished my coloring page. I panicked. I was in the middle of working on my dollhouse. I was enjoying every minute. Then I thought, “Gosh, I need to quit this and go hurry and finish up my coloring page.”

Nerves kicked in. My heart raced. My back ached with tension. I felt light-headed.

And it came to me how silly I was being.

You see, I’ve totally enjoyed working on this coloring page. A couple of times when life hasn’t gone my way, I’ve taken out the page and lost myself working on it. I’ve delighted in mixing colors and in blending the shades. I’ve kept the page tacked up on the side of my file cabinet where I can look at it often.

Yet here I was on Sunday, trying to turn a fun project into an obligation, a relaxation effort into a stressor, and playtime into work.

I decided I was not going to do that to myself. In fact, I hope I’ll also give each of YOU permission to not finish your work.

We live in a culture where importance is defined by how busy we are. We race around to prove we’re important. We stress ourselves out.

But coloring is a way to de-stress. Let’s not turn it into a chore. Are you with me on this?

By the way, I also need to change how I’ll send out coloring books. I don’t want to judge any of you or your work. I’d rather have a totally random process. I’ve set up a contest page. Enter (starting tomorrow) and I’ll choose a winner monthly to send a coloring book.

If you win once, you can’t win again for a year. Here’s the link: http://gvwy.io/neeu0s3

I hope you’ll agree with me that none of us need more stress in our lives.