Make Each Day Your Masterpiece

Posted by Pat Stewart on Mar 30, 2015 in My Blog | 0 comments

Coach John Wooden, the historic & successful men’s basketball coach at UCLA, spoke one of my favorite life quotations, “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.”  Quite a tall order, but certainly one to aspire to accomplish.  It has served as a guiding principle for me for the last 16 years following my breast cancer diagnosis in 1999.

We experience days in our lives where we are changed forever by tragedy, loss, disappointment and the thought of making that day…those days a masterpiece seem impossible to do anything but grieve and try to survive.  That is being human and those pains and anguish are very real.  And yet, we see over and over people getting beyond their great losses and living life in joy.  What we don’t see is the way God’s Holy Spirit, the Holy Comforter, is at work in their lives giving them a “peace that passes all understanding.” (Philippians 4:7 KJV)

So, thinking about creating masterpieces with our daily lives, there are plenty of days when I think, “OK, this is where I am today, this is what I’ve got,” and I wonder “how on earth am I to make today a masterpiece?”

The real truth is that what may seem very mundane or even worthless to us, just may seem to be a masterpiece to someone else in their circumstances.  When a smile or showing kindness comes so naturally to us, sometimes it is seen by someone who needed so badly to receive it that a masterpiece was created without our knowing it.  A street performer or salesperson who obviously needs every coin or dollar they earn, offers you their “creation” which you don’t need but, out of kindness and appreciation, you give them your money and suggest they give their “creation” to a child who comes along later.

In my love and appreciation of God’s creation, as I am in the lovely wetlands of South Florida observing and photographing our wildlife, I try to capture the essence of the beautiful herons and egrets and spoonbills as they court, breed and build their nests in which to raise their families.  I look for their beauty, uniqueness and displays of God’s masterpiece to share with others.  To inner city middle-school students, some with behavioral issues, they need to know there is beauty and love and respect and hope for a better future out there.  When I substitute teach, I usually share three 8 x 10 photos I’ve taken to demonstrate to them that there is another life out in our world and they can live among it.  I realize from their reactions they are seeing a masterpiece when looking at my photos.  I am humbled. I know it gives them hope to see new things and to realize  that finishing school, getting a job and earning the money for a decent camera (not the expensive best) that they too can create a masterpiece with their lives.

When I see the joy and hope in their eyes, they, in turn, have shown me their masterpiece moment for that day.

Well, I’m sure you can think of all sorts of masterpieces you can create in your days of life.  How you interact with people during your day, the reports you write at work, the cookies you bake at home & share, etc.   The important thing is to give it some thought and with your awareness, CREATE!!!