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Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Dancing Creeks

I'm a quitter by nature. I hate to admit it, but there it is.

In my pre-maternal days, if something wasn't going right or required an inordinate amount of effort, I'd just shrug and turn my attention elsewhere.

But when children came along, I could hardly ignore my daughter when she refused to eat, or let my son run out in the road because I was tired of correcting him for the thousandth time.

I had to grit my teeth and do again and again what was necessary to achieve the ultimate goal of my kids living through their childhoods.

It's tempting to pray for the elimination of the nuisances and obstacles in our lives, but we must realize that the creek would never dance if Papa God removed the rocks.

I've had to learn perseverance in my writing career. I've collected enough rejection slips to wallpaper the Ritz grand ballroom. But I figure that just as jockeys have to put up with horse poo as a vocational hazard, I must step over the piles of rejection notices, wipe the nasty off my books, and keep moving forward.

How do we find motivation to keep going when our reserves are drained?

Well, Cadbury always helps. But even more so: Focus.

That's why I've plastered my writing desk with reminders of why I do this writing thing ...


  • Photos of the three children I support with my writing income (Yvonne from Kenya, Charity from Uganda, and Felix from the Dominican Republic)
  • Inspirational quotes ("Work to become, not to acquire," ~ Elbert Hubbard).
  • Scripture ("Instead of worrying, PRAY" ~ Phil 4:6, MSG; "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" ~ Ecc. 9:10, NASB)).
  • Personal goals ("April: create new speaking brochures!") 
  • Comics (Charlie Brown to Snoopy: I hate to tell you this, but your dinner is going to be about four minutes late ... Snoopy typing atop his doghouse: Like all great writers, I have known suffering").
  • Photos of my loved ones (row upon row of framed fun and happy memories).

 
So how about you? What motivates you to keep doing this writing thing?

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