I think the hardest thing in the world is to learn something new and then repeat it again and again until we get it right. Let’s say I wanted to create a wire wrapped necklace. I study the “how to’s” and practice wire wrapping techniques until I understand what I am doing and then make a very cool necklace of brass wire and blue green agate and place it for sell in my online jewelry shop.
A month later, I discover that someone else, another jewelry maker has copied my original design, made a minor change, and is selling it in her online shop.
Would I be mad when find this out. No, but I would be rather hurt as would have put alot of time and thought into my necklace…..
Okay, this did happen to me and I began to get upset. Then I felt a niggling in my mind, a kind of tapping on my shoulder, as it were. The words “pride before the fall” or something like that floated into to mind. Remembering this from my daughter’s video about Esther from Veggie Tales I suddenly wanted to find the actual quote and logged onto BibleGateway.com.
Proverbs 14:3 “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.”
(Meaning to me, in so many words, to suck it up.)
Feeling reprimanded, for the briefest instance I felt like sulking. But, then realized that I, too, copied the basic concept from another (okay, I learned how to make this necklace from a jewelry making book, but you get the general idea.)
I believe that God or my guardian angel was reminding me that there will always be someone stronger, smarter, more skilled (sighhh) and prettier than me. There will even be those who copy what I do, but I can take comfort that I did my best….and there are alot, alot of jewelry buyers out there.
