It’s Never Too Late

Have you ever found yourself thinking “I wish I had learned how to ___…” or “If only I had ___...”? How would you complete those sentences? Why do we think if we didn’t do something in our younger years or earlier years, we somehow missed the boat? Well, friends, the boat hasn’t been missed! And this is our first tidbit of watercolor wisdom… lessons I’ve learned through watercolor that can be applied to life.  

It's Never Too Late…

Did you know watercolor paints can be used even after they dry? It’s true! All you have to do is reconstitute the dried paints with a little water, and you’re good to go. So that perfect blend of colors you were using earlier that has now dried on your palette isn’t lost. Just add a bit of water, mix a little, and keep painting!  That’s one reason watercolor painting is so economically friendly. You don’t have to throw out paint when it dries. So it’s never too late.

What do you do when you apply paint to your paper and realize it should be a lighter version of color or maybe even white? Will that mistake ruin your painting? No! You can dry your brush and use it to lift the paint from the paper. Or use paper towel to blot the paint. It will lift, and you can start again. It’s never too late.

In life as well, my friends, it’s never too late. I started painting in my mid-50s and then started a small art business a few years later. When there’s a will, there’s a way. And age doesn’t matter in most cases. It’s never too late to learn something new, to find a new passion, to get your degree, to reinvent yourself.

Sometimes we hold on to things longer than we should, like hurt or anger. And that can be so detrimental to us and to others. Just because we’ve held on doesn’t mean we need to keep holding on. It’s never too late to let go, to learn from our mistakes, to forgive, to say “I’m sorry.”

Sometimes we insist that our way is the only way. We refuse to see a situation from someone else’s vantage point or experience. But it’s never too late to change our perspective, to walk in someone else’s shoes, to reach across the aisle to find compromise.

Every day is a new day… a new opportunity… it can be like blotting the paint on the paper and starting anew. Today is a new day… and it’s never too late…