Color Outside the Lines

I’m not sleeping much lately. Feels like my creative juices are flooding my brain. Is this due to running? Is it because I’ve opened myself up to whatever life may present? I’m not sure but I wasn’t feeling like this a few weeks ago.

Whatever the reason I don’t want it to stop. You see one of my favorite things in life is being imaginative and creative. I believe it’s a gift God gives all of us and over time life tries to steal it away. The thief first shows up in first grade when you’re told you must color inside the lines. Why? What if you want to color outside the lines or God forbid on them? Most likely you would have been told this was unacceptable. Being a child you probably accepted a social norm that is not normal at all. Think of some of the great minds that decided to color outside the lines - Leonardo de Vinci, Albert Einstein, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Robert Bies (my favorite teacher), etc… Maybe you can be one of them.

This whole running and blogging thing has been like coloring outside the lines for me. One day I’m living a comfortable life within the lines and the next thing I know I’m running at midnight in my pajamas and sharing my life online. Life can be crazy like that and it’s best to just go with it and see where the current takes you. What fun is there in being comfortable all the time? Think back to a great moment in your life. What was going? Where you coloring outside the lines?

My kids have taught me a lot about coloring outside the lines (and on the walls, carpet, my face while I’m sleeping, etc…). To them the world is one big coloring book and their life one giant crayon. They laugh, dance, cry, hug, and enjoy themselves with such an intensity I feel I am in the company of angels when we're together. To prove my point check out the video below.



Tonight’s lesson is more of a request. Tomorrow, color outside the lines at least once (do something out of the norm that fills you with joy). Then write about it and email it yourself (add a subject line that will jog your memory in the future). Next time life tries to force you to color inside the lines pull up the email and catch the thief.

If your wondering the song in the video is "Dreams" by Gabrielle.  Here's a link to the slow version of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNqwVDD4rlo&feature=related