Masterpiece in the making.

A masterpiece in the making.

It came to him, a 17-foot slab of slightly mangled marble. Two before him had given it a go, but both stopped after minimal progress. The block (!), they said, was too brittle. The marble, too flawed. The job, too tough.

But not for Michelangelo – who, in August of 1501, accepted the tall task of carving the statue of David. Unlike the others, he saw its potential instead of its problems. Beauty trapped inside, longing to be let loose.

So he shuttled it into the shadows and went to work. Mallet in one mitt, chisel in the other, he labored relentlessly for two and a half years. Each day, returning to his masterpiece in the making with a vision and a lunch-pale mentality. One big blow would not suffice; diligence was required. Millions of tiny tinks, all with tools held at precisely the right angle and struck with precisely the right amount of force. Tink. Tink. Tink.

How impatience must have beckoned, and doubt must have called: “Just quit. Others did. It’s not worth it.” But still, Michelangelo managed to return to the stone everyday – the pull of the beauty that rested within greater than the resistance without – until the marble masterpiece was revealed in January of 1504.

For years, this picture (swipe right) simply reminded me of my time in Italy – a whiff of nostalgia wafting up whenever I flipped through old photos.

Until I found more in the cracks that came toward the end of a particularly dreadful tread and shred workout. Sweat poured from my body as if it was crying for me to stop running. Eventually, the sweat bundled a cluster of hair that hammered my forehead with each step. Tink. Step. Tink. Step. tink.

My thoughts somehow sent to Michelangelo and his mallet. How I am (like you) a masterpiece in the making. How I hope to remember to call up that Michelangelo mentality daily – honoring the beauty placed inside me by picking up my metaphorical mallet and chipping away at the excess around my soul.

So here’s to seeing ourselves (and others) as a work in progress worthy of working on. Here’s to seeing beauty through the blemishes and to trusting what we do in the dark will one day come to light. And here’s to you: a masterpiece in the making.