Don't Save Your Stickers

When I was a kid I thought getting stickers was just about the best thing ever.

So pretty. So brightly coloured. So...finite.

Once a sticker was peeled off the backing sheet, stuck on the page and admired for a moment, it was done.No longer usable, the excitement always dissipated.And if you tried to peel it off the page and re-stick it, you're likely to peel the paper away too - leaving you with a ripped page and a useless sticker. (Trust me.)

Why Am I Telling You This?

I was a pretty cautious kid. I didn't want to make mistakes, disappoint anyone, regret a decision. I distinctly remember crying at night for at least a week because I decided I didn't want to do gymnastics class anymore and was terrified that mum and dad would be upset.They totally weren't.So do you know what I did with the majority of my stickers?

I left them on their backing paper and tucked them away somewhere safe. Maybe in my desk drawer, or a dedicated sticker box.

Saved them for a special occasion. A project that was worth using them on.

And guess what?

I never used them.

When I was older and being forced by my mum choosing responsibly to tidy up and declutter my bedroom, I found these abandoned stickers and admired them once again.But I thought the time to use them had passed. I was a grungy teenager. I was into Presidents of the United States of America, op-shopping and basketball. (An enigma is what I was.) Stickers had no place in my life.The opportunity to experience the joy and beauty and creativity of using them had passed me by.Don't let this happen to you. Don't discover too late, that you had something of joy and beauty at your fingertips, only to let it slip by, too afraid to "use it all up" or break it.

We're Not Talking About Stickers Anymore, Are We?

If you keep one thing in mind this weekend - it's this:Don't Save Your Stickers.Use them. Whenever the mood strikes. With wild abandon if possible.Enjoy the rush. Embrace the feeling of living in the moment.It's a well-covered cliche, but important enough to state again:

• Use the "good" china. So what if it gets chipped? It's being used. That's what it's for.
• Drink your cheap wine from the wine glasses you received as a wedding gift - they're just gathering dust otherwise.
• That perfect-coloured lipstick? Put it on! You will look beautiful, even if you're in your pyjamas.
• Let your kids paint. Isn't it there to be used?!
• Wear that fancy perfume - even if it's only to playgroup.
• Jump in muddy puddles. And stop pretending you don't enjoy it. Who cares about the laundry?! You're the one who does it anyway.

Stop Saving Your Stickers, Folks.

Otherwise one day, you will rediscover them, only to realise the time to use them has passed.Why not make 'one day', today?   

This post first appeared on July 13, 2012. The message is more important to me now than ever, so I wanted to share it again.