Have you ever taken time to draw a picture of the way something looked in the past, and then drawn a picture of the same event from today's perspective?  Probably not, but if you did how clear would that original picture be?  Is there color in it?  Are there smiles or tears, anger or love, frustration or contentment?

Does your picture of past relationships with loved ones that have passed on include smiles or sadness?  How about that great friendship that you once had that is no longer part of our life, what would that picture look like?  Would that person be included in a picture of your future?  Do you focus too much of your energy on desiring those past relationships, those past pictures.  Is the relationship that you reflect on an old picture.  Perhaps past relationships no longer exist because they no longer fulfill your current or future needs.    Does it belong in your future?  Or does it belong in your past?  

What if you drew a picture of the relationships that are currently in your life?  Who would be in that picture?  What emotions would exist in that picture?  What would you be doing?  Where would you be?  Where would you be going? 

How about the future relationships that you want to be part of your life?  Are you able to draw a picture of those?  If you could draw a picture of the future relationships, what would it look like?  What needs would it fulfill?  What types of experiences would you be experiencing?  Are those experiences the same as the experiences that you already have had?  Or are they different?  If you could draw the picture of your future, how would it differ from your past, or your present?  

Drawing a picture of a future relationship is like creating something that never existed before.  It's like a new masterpiece. Something that you never experienced before.  Something that you never felt before.  Creating this new masterpiece requires taking some risk.  Without risk there is no growth.  Without growth, how can life be fulfilled?   

What if this new relationship that you seek is with YOU?  Yes You!  Can you draw a picture of your future self?  What would that picture look like?  Is it a picture that you believe so strongly in that you would share with others?  Drawing a future picture of yourself takes great courage.  Sharing it takes even greater courage.  What if you don't live up to this picture?  What if it didn't come true?  Wouldn't that make you a looser?  Perhaps even a failure?  Holy crapper - don't go there!  

Growth of any kind requires vision.  We would never build a new home or office building without blueprinting it first.  That would be plain foolish.  After all, how would we know what the future building would look like if we didn't have a blueprint, if we didn't have plans.  In some cases we even go as far as having an architectural model developed so we can visually see how that building is going to look when we are done.  We would be foolish to start the building process without the plans being finalized and 'stamped' by an engineer.

Yet so many of us just wander through life without a blueprint, without plans and without a picture of our future self.  If designing your future was as simple as drawing a picture - what would that picture look like? 

The beauty of drawing a picture of your own future, is that your future is continually changing. Unlike a building, your life is full of life, if you choose for it to be.  When you are living a life that is alive you are able to continuously revamp your picture.  You can add to it, remove from it, highlight certain parts of it and change the colors.  This is the beauty of drawing a picture of your future self.  Don't wait for someone else to draw the picture for you.  Pick up the pencil in your own hand and begin drawing a life that is a one of a kind masterpiece.