Go with the flow and roll with the punches.  Easier said then done.  Sometimes the flow takes you through some wild rapids and rolling with the punches means that you need to be able to “take the punch.”  Rolling with the punches is only possible when your pain threshold enables you to take the punch and your stamina can withstand a brutal flurry.  I love this metaphor, we all know the scene when the boxer is being brutally beaten by his opponent and it appears that the one last punch will end the fight.  Then, suddenly after enduring an impossible onslaught, the underdog catches a second wind and strategically places the punch that knocks out his opponent.

With the room still spinning, our hero marvels at his miraculous victory.  I have been that underdog on all too many occasions.  I’ve learned that the fear of the punch is worse than the punch itself.   Fear begets failure it stifles creativity.  As a professional artist I’ve experienced my fair share of rejection.  As a successful entrepreneur I’ve known my fair share of failures.   It was the creative sprit that always carried me on.  I see now that rejection is only opinion.  And failure only part of the equation in this formula called life.

 

The alchemist is as great an analogy as the boxer.  It would appear that for most, turning pain into wisdom and failure into success is as difficult as turning lead into gold.  But all things are possible by maintaining the creative spirit. 

 

 

 

And celebrating the creative spirit is my life's work.