There are certain things I've convinced myself that I can't do, and I have never even tried doing them.  Like painting. Well, let me clarify. I took art lessons when I was young.  My mother was a fantastic artist, but I can honestly say her talent didn't rub off on me.  My early artwork left a lot to be desired.  So I assumed that if I couldn’t draw, then I couldn't paint the walls or trim of a house.  Consequently I have avoided dipping any brush in a bucket of paint for many years, happy to let my husband tackle that end of the home improvement spectrum.

This past weekend, I was at our cottage on the Cape with my sister, Barbara, and my son, Jarrod. The outside trim of the house has been in desperate need of painting.  Naturally, I quickly volunteered to scrape off the old paint and let Barbara and Jarrod do the priming and painting.  I didn't want to be responsible for something I'm not good at.

And then I thought, wait a minute.  I've never even done this kind of painting before.  Why not try?  If I never try, I'll never know if I can do it or not.  So I bravely picked up a paint brush, had my sister give me a little instruction, and I started to paint.  And guess what?  I can paint! And it looked pretty good, too.  So you know the moral of this story...don't assume you can't do something until you try it first.  I bet you'll find that you're better at it than you thought!