My kids discovered a YouTube video that highlighted dozens of unique ways to decorate Easter eggs. They were excited to try out some of the new techniques they learned, many of which were new to me as well.

There’s no one way to decorate an Easter egg.

It reminded me that there’s also no one way to create an amazing life. 

There are lots of different ways to earn money.
There are lots of different ways to spend it.
There are lots of different ways to allocate your time.
And lots of options of where and who to spend that time with.

Of course, you can do things by the book. You know, the “normal” way. With a cup of water, a few tablespoons of vinegar, and some drops of food coloring, you’ll get a “successful” life, I mean Easter egg. 

Creating something that resembles a Fabergé egg requires an altogether different approach. Mind you, I’m not suggesting that it’s a better one. Task me with the job of crafting some sort of intricate pattern, and there’s a good chance our evening would be forever remembered by my children as, “that one Easter where Dad threw a chair out the window.”

The simple truth remains: there are an unlimited ways to decorate an egg. 

It does seem that my favorite eggs I’ve decorated are the ones into which I put a little creativity. Because I couldn’t just leave all the fun to the kids, I started drawing faces on a few of them. Eventually, someone suggested that it wouldn’t take much to make one look like Captain Underpants, and so that’s what I did.

I didn’t set out that evening to create a Captain Underpants egg. Sometimes we have to try a few different techniques before we settle on one that suits us and lights us up. I call that tinkering. 

Meanwhile, I enjoyed watching the way my kids approached it. This was the first year Ben was able to exercise a little patience. He colored an egg that looked as magnificent as a ruby. His secret, of course, was leaving it in the dye longer. 

My daughter Ginny is only five, and she has not yet built up her patience muscle. Having a hard time waiting is age-appropriate when you’re five. But a lack of patience can cause real problems when you’re forty-five. I know a couple pushing fifty who is no further along now than they were in their twenties, all because they’ve never been able to stick to a plan and see it through.

People are looking for recipes, which is basically a list of rules. Do this, get that. There’s no question that recipes work. But oftentimes, it doesn’t result in the deep satisfaction and meaning we’re striving for.

If your life is not coming out as brilliant as you’d like it to be, you have some options. Probably more than you even considered.

Maybe you need to add a little more of yourself into it.
Maybe you need to give the plan a little more time. 
Maybe you just need an altogether new approach. 

There’s no one way to create an amazing life.

If the recipe you’re currently using isn’t working for you, you’re allowed to try a different one.