In 2015 my daughter gave me an adult coloring book.  Every now and then I pull out the book and color a picture or two.  When I look back on the pictures I’ve colored, I notice some themes in my color choices.  I tend to gravitate to certain color schemes.

I recently heard a quote by RuPaul Charles that struck a chord with me: “Life is about using the whole box of crayons”.  It struck a chord because I realized that when I color, I usually avoid using certain colors in the box.

To be honest, there were some times in my life that have been a real ‘jumbo box’ of crayons.  Inky blacks, vomit greens, jaundice yellows.  Not to mention LOTS of poop browns.  But there have also been some sunshine yellows, crystal blues and gentle mauves.

I’ve learned a couple of things about crayons and coloring (and life) that I’d like to share:

1)  There are going to be crayons in your box that you don’t like.  It’s a fact.

There are more quotes and platitudes about how ‘bad things make you better’ than you can throw a stick at.  There is a reason why there are so many – it’s true.  Crap happens.

Running away from the mess doesn’t make it go away.  As much as it doesn’t feel like it – there will come a time when you can look back at the mess and see the good that came from it.  It may take a bit of time, or a bit of digging through the rubble, but the truth is that – yes – a mess helps you grow, or improve, or become a stronger person.

In the coloring book of life, you can’t color chocolate if you don’t have a brown crayon!

2)  There are going to be colors in your box that you really like.  This point comes with two sides:

A)  Don’t be afraid, or reluctant, to use them! 

Use your favorite colors every day.  Life is too short to leave them all in the box for later.  Yes, sometimes our favorite crayons get used up or lost or broken, but cherish your favorite colors while you have them.

B)  It is also important to remember that your favorite color for one thing might not be your favorite color for something else.  That is ok.  Blue is a great color for the sky, but not good for a skin tone (unless you are a smurf!) 

3)  You have a choice.

You can choose the 3 pack of crayons in the cellophane wrapper that comes with a kid’s meal at a chain restaurant, OR, the box of 24, or 64, or 96! The choice is yours, so have some fun.

Even when you don’t think you have a choice, even if you feel you are only given three crayons, you can choose how you use them.  Press hard.  Shade lightly.  Blend and mix colors.  Make the picture of your life how you want it.  It is your creation, no one else’s.  There are no limits to how you use the colors you are given, so don’t let anything hold you back.

Even if you are comfortable with limited colors – experiment once and a while.  Throw in a little chartreuse.  A little gamboge.  A little vermilion or cerulean.

Stretch your color palette.  Stretch how you see the world.

All the circumstances we face paint the picture that is our life.  If your soul is caught up in the greys of life right now, or if you are in a season of beige, I want to challenge you to reach into the box and grab a new crayon.  Remind yourself that there is more to life.  There are oceans of blue, volumes of orange, melodies of violet.  All it takes is one color to change the way you look at your surroundings.

When you look back at your life’s coloring book, what will you see?

Will you see blank pages with scattered half-finished images in muted tones?

Or, will you see wrinkled, used pages filled with color and life?

No, we won’t always like all of the colors we are given.  Sometimes we’ll have to make do with the browns, greens and blacks.

But – we must remember that life is about using the whole box of crayons.

What color do you have the most in your life right now?  Please message me with your comments.