When I was a kid, we had lots of art supplies — crayons, markers, colored pencils, water color paints, even pastels — and the holy grail of elementary school drawing: Mr. Sketch scented markers.

mr sketch markersUnfortunately I never wanted to use them for fear they’d run out of ink.  Yeah I clearly had some issues.

Well this came up last week when we didn’t want to take Mochi on a walk because he’d just had a bath and it was raining and wet outside, so he’d get all muddy and dirty again.  Thankfully we were reminded by the song at the end of the Avenue Q musical we just saw, something about whatever happens is “only just for now.”  So Mochi got his walk in, got dirty, and the sun still came up the next day.

It made me think about what other “Mr. Sketch markers” people might have in their lives.

  • Not using the nice dishes. (They might break!)
  • Not wearing your shoes in the house. (The floors might get dirty!)
  • Not using your new skis. (I might hit a rock!)
  • Not taking vacation. (I might fall behind at work!)
  • Not moving to that new city. (I might not know anyone!)
  • Not remodeling your house. (It might lose re-sale value!)
  • Not calling your friends or family. (They might be busy!)
  • Not asking for a raise at work. (They might say no!)
  • Not starting that business. (It might fail!)

Yes, all of those things might happen.  But they might not.

It took me a while, but I think I’ve learned life is more fully lived when you take out all the “nots.”