The Tinderbox Tapes club members receive a Daily DifferenceMaker (DDM) every morning. This one originally went out a couple of months ago. While on the road recently, I was in a pinch for a DDM to send one morning and decided to recycle one. As I searched my archive, I came across this one and it spoke to me in a new way. Yes, people, I astounded myself today! Hope this one speaks to you, too.
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Dutch Painter & hell with a razor blade
You'll recall he didn't like his ear; You've probably heard Don McLean sing about him; You've certainly seen the "swirly" stars. You also may have noticed he died at 37.
Van Gogh was an interesting character.
He only painted for 10 years.
He grew up a preacher's kid, living in mining communities as his father preached to the poor, and never pursued any significant artistic endeavors as a child.
While he did work for an art dealer for a time, he eventually became a preacher like his father.
It was his brother, Theo, who encouraged him to paint. Both van Gogh AND his parents thought Theo was nuts, but he pushed Vincent anyway.
So in 1880, Vincent gave up preaching and began to paint.
And then...
It appeared Vincent & his parents were right!
No one was buying his paintings.
Regardless, Vincent kept at it.
Despite suffering mental illness, epilepsy, a myriad of other illnesses - and absolutely zero success in the marketplace - van Gogh became a prolific painter over 10 years.
Right up until he took his own life.
Wow, Brian. Thanks for the Buzzkill. On Monday.
Stay with me, please.
Van Gogh created a new world for himself.
He didn't begin to paint as a first career; He wasn't a prodigy; He didn't even have confidence in himself! If not for his brother, Vincent would likely have never picked up a brush.
Despite his late start, mental & physical illness, Vincent van Gogh ended up painting 3 of the top 10 most expensive paintings of all time.
That's more than any other individual artist, and the 3 paintings total over $200 million! JUST THOSE THREE! I'm sure someone knows the value of his entire collection, but I couldn't find it. Suffice it to say, it must be worth a LOT of dollars!
Yet he died a "failure."
Sometimes the new world you create won't pay economically until long after you're gone.
But it won't pay today, tomorrow or EVER if you don't do the small things that can be brought together to form something great.
Remember, you don't have to invent the light bulb to astound yourself; You simply have to do what you're capable of doing.
Van Gogh was capable of painting potato eaters, sunflowers, haystacks, starry nights, even himself;
So whether they sold or not, he continued to paint them.
It must have seemed small at the time, sitting in a field alone, staring at hay, filled with doubt, knowing no one was buying.
And yet, he did it - every day - because it was the one thing he was capable of doing.
Are you capable of doing a small thing?
How about a series of small things?
When you put those small things together, what kind of new world will you create?
Do something small, something you're capable of doing, as you start this week - a call, an email, a household chore, a single flower - and you'll Astound Yourself Today!
Brian
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