Live Inspired
Inspirational Color Quote of the Week: Colors Yellow, Blue and Just About Everything Else The Many Colors of the Middle “People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and its ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them. ” --― Markus Zusak (Author, The Book Thief) What do you think? He’s right. We think so much about sun rises and sun sets. Beginnings and endings. No doubt those are important. Whether it’s about colors or just about anything else, they deserve special attention. Hey, What surprise will the new day bring? What is my next adventure? What good things will come along if I take a risk and enter the new relationship? And on the otherside, what did this day have to teach me? What were the most important learnings from the activity I just completed? Exactly which questions we ask or in what specific ways we choose to focus on the beginnings and endings matters less than the actual focus itself. And remember what we think of as a beginning or an ending isn’t limited to those big life changing events (marriages, job changes). It’s also the smaller wins and sometimes losses of our day. And hey as important as these starts and finishes (however we choose to define them) are, there’s more to the middle. That’s where we literally spend most of our time. It’s where most of the action is, and it’s where the process matters; where you really need to follow through on the plan of action to create your goals and where the rubber meets the road. It’s also as Mr. Zusak reminds us, where how you feel about things can change from minute to minute. Yes, the Physical colors of any scene can change more than we expect; What about the changing colors as you walk down a street? Go through a mall? Poke around websites on the internet? Even more, the emotional colors. One minute you’re frustrated; the next you’ve figured things out; the next you’re relaxing and enjoying the day. Ok, the colors offered up by Mr. Zusak don’t exactly seem the happiest: Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darkness. Can’t we fit in some bright orange? Some sky blue? Some rainbows of multi-colored light? After all if a day consists of all these colors and feelings, let’s appreciate the darker ones but let’s leave as much room as we can for the brighter ones too. So the beginnings and endings matter a lot. They deserve special recognition. But in ways that we don’t often take time to appreciate, Mr. Zusak is right; “a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations.” You sure leave out a lot if you don’t recognize the many colors of the middle and all the wonderful ways they can shift a change. How do these ideas resonate with you, and what are one or two actions you might want to take in the next day or so on that basis?
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AuthorI am a Life Coach, a Color Wisdom Card Practitioner, and yes, even a Professor (political science, State University of New York at Albany). I use the Color Wisdom Cards to support clients in exploring priorities and taking concrete actions to stay on track with the goals they set. Because in my own life I have overcome a lot of self-doubt, I want to work with people towards more confidence and self-empowerment. You can do it! What is it you want to do? Categories
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June 2021
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