The birthday tide has washed over me with its warm wishes and fun activities and the first day of being 61 is now upon me. My day started with news on opposite ends of the spectrum. First, a birthday card from a long lost friend lifting me up, then news of a very good high school friend’s recent passing, making me very sad.
Happy and sad. Good and bad. Success and failure. These are not just opposites, they are the way of life. These, and many more opposites, will come our way everyday. In every 24 hour period we will ride both highs and lows, and spend a lot of time sitting on an even keel. What decides how we view these highs and lows? What decides if we are a glass half full or a glass half empty person? We do. We get to choose which path we want to follow. If we choose to be a victim of circumstances and fixate on our failures that is where we will remain – wallowing in the “poor me” pool. Conversely, if we choose to view our failures as stepping stones to success we will climb out of the pool and head back up the ladder for yet another dive.
This morning I came across a great blog post about dealing with failure. The author took a very in-depth look at the power that failure can have over us and what to do to rise up and exercise our own power of choice and move past it. This particular post came to me at the right time – as I believe all writing does. Every piece of prose and poetry is written to be read by a certain person at a certain time. This was again true for me today. I was at a crossroads in my own writing and have made a choice after my experience at the writers conference over the weekend. Having since made the choice, fear of failure inevitably begins to seep in. This blog post was just what I needed. If you, too, are finding yourself in a place where the fear of failure is trying to have power over you, check out the link to this post below. Here is just one little excerpt:
~ James Chartrand
Can you imagine? Check out the link below and begin writing YOUR story today.
And so, as the first day of my sixty-first year goes by, I’m going to begin my story by moving my art desk to a new place, continue to seek out advice and read the works of people living the type of success I’d like to have, look instead to the needs of others and practice finding ways to lend a hand, and, with that, I have written.
Check out this post:
How Failure Keeps Writers From Producing Their Best Work
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