give us what you've got

Have you heard about the man who, after learning he only has three months to live, quits his job and becomes a painter?

A year later the cancer is offi­cially in remission but he doesn’t pick up his old life... he continues on as a successful painter. He says he has never been happier. 
The idea of death does not cause people to change; it causes them to step back and see how necessary change is. It gives them a reason to overcome resistance.


I am reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It's about creativity and overcoming resistance.

“The most important thing about art is to work. 

Nothing else matters except 

sitting down every day and trying.” 

~ The War of Art

My favorite quotes from the book all seem to come from page 146:

“We’re not born with unlimited choices. 

We can’t be anything we want ot be. 

We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. 

We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become."

“Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves 

into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, 

but to find out who we already are and become it.”

“If we were born to overthrow the order of ignorance

 and injustice of the world, 

it’s our job to realize it and get down to business.” 

As a last bit of advice, Steven Pressfield challenges all of us:


Your creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention...  It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.