No bad weather here yet, but I checked the radar loop at Intellicast, and it's right on the edge of town... I dreamed last night that we had a flash flood that wiped out our front step, tree and birdfeeders (I was most upset about the feeders...LOL).
I was reading in O Magazine yesterday (once I got past all the advertisements and perfume samples that gave me a wicked headache -- UGH) and stumbled across this little blurb on the bottom of one page called "Simmons Says..."
It's a brief set of quotes from Russell Simmons about his book "Do You! 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success". A couple of things really smacked me upside the head. I'll share, so you can be smacked, too (the emphasisisisisis -- emphasi? -- are mine):
"The reason most people fail to reach the finish line is that they confuse a SETBACK with a FAILURE... A setback isn't a dead end: it's just a learning curve on your journey to success."There were more, of course, but these were the two that spoke to me.
"Stalling is much easier than starting. But...it actually makes your life harder. You have to START before you can succeed at anything."
Writers are probably quite aware of the difference between a setback and a failure -- think of the gazillion rejections we have to go through to get one yes. Still, it can be demoralizing, and it's always good to consider the setback as a lesson.
And the stalling thing... sheesh. How many people say, "I'll write when I have time." and then never "have time"? You think I have time? Nope. I have NO time to spare in my life. But when something is important to me I make time. If you were swamped with work, and then someone gave you two tickets to a show that you were dying, DYING, to see... would you find the time to go? Would you get up earlier, stay up later, give up lunch to go?
If you want to write, you have the time.
And that's my lecture du jour.
Don't forget to ENTER MY CONTEST. Anno, those Jenny Crusie books are still available... want to try again?
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7 comments:
It doesn't sound like you're in any danger of stalling out. That storm, though... well, I hope it does.
Love today's quote, by the way.
And at our local RWA chapter meeting yesterday, we were talking about just that: *making*the time to write. One woman who was brand new to the group said, "I finally realized that I would make the time to get my kids to an event, so why am I not making the time for myself?"
P.S. - It's "emphases"...
Doing the 250 finally convinced ME that I COULD "make time"... it's just a matter of doing it. I'm so glad you whacked me up side the head with that one, M. And, we're keeping our toes crossed y'all stay safe up there.
Those are great quotes!
Great post today.
I read a book once that said toddlers don't beat themselves up for falling down when learning to walk, so why do we, as adults, feel we need to be perfect the first time out? What makes us so special? That stuck with me ever since. I've like having permission to make mistakes while learning.
I really don't like when people say they don't have time to write. None of us have time, you just make it happen. And if you don't, then you really don't want to be a writer no matter how what you might say or think. Good post.
I took the bull by the horns and he threw me over the fence.
Wait, that's not what I meant to say!
I combined stalling with starting by making this: http://www.squidoo.com/Procrastination-destination/
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