If you are a painter, don’t become Picasso

“My mother said to me, 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.' Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.” ~ Pablo Picasso

The best conversation you will ever have besides the one with your Maker, is the one you have with yourself. Your mother, father, friends, and those in the “quicksand crowd” start throwing aphorisms on you at a young age. “You’ll never be this or that… You’ll never amount to anything,” they may say. Or, “You are destined for greatness… You were born to win!”

For some people these aphorisms stick, good or bad. For other people, they decide who they really are, tuning in those who encourage, and tuning out those in the quicksand crowd.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” ~ Viktor E. Frankl

You can choose your aphorisms. You can choose your attitude. You can choose your own way. But if you are a painter, don’t become Picasso! Become the best version of you.