I have all these wonderful ideas that I’ve let go by the wayside, either because they aren’t possible at the time, I don’t have the time to devote to it, or I become lazy and don’t see it through.
I had the wonderful idea of reviewing 25 books for the 25 days of Christmas. When I started I had more time, then I received a call to sub for a week at a local school, and when I came home I didn’t have the energy to read the books, and blog about them. So, in this case I had the time when I started but I didn’t as it continued. I realize now I should have just picked a few, or started with 12 days instead of going all in with the 25.
I’m not happy that I haven’t been able to be consistent with this challenge but it made me think about writing. When we let wonderful ideas float away on the wings of life we have not only deprived ourselves but others as well. You don’t know when needs to hear the story you have to tell. If maybe it’s a short story, maybe it’s a work of non-fiction. Whatever genre, whatever medium, don’t let the idea float away, don’t allow other things distract you, and if you don’t have the time, look at your schedule and see where you can make it work.
Sometimes we don’t continue with an idea or project because we’re worried about failure, but the worst failure is failing to try.
“Not to have tried is the worst failure.”
– George E. Woodberry
I almost gave up writing fiction a few years ago. I began to realize my stories didn’t have a good plot, or characters. Maybe they aren’t as bad as all that, but they definitely need work before I would ever feel comfortable putting them out in the world. I thought the only writing I was good at was non-fiction, opinion pieces, devotionals blogs, etc. It made me sad but I wasn’t going to let go of writing and that’s what mattered.
Then I found myself in quarantine, with not a whole lot to do. So, I wrote. I wrote a story I had heard and experienced, about a character I had been trying to write about for a few months. Finally, Adelyn’s story came to me and I fell into a trance like state, just sitting at my desk and not stopping till I finished it. I wasn’t sure about it but something about this story felt different than all the others I had written. I sent it to my sister and she said, “Publish it!” The rest is history. I worked on it, my sister helped with sketches, my mom helped me edit, and more Adelyn stories flowed from my finger tips across the keyboard and onto the screen. These didn’t feel forced, they felt right, they ignited my imagination again, and I didn’t care if they got published, I was just having a blast writing.
I found my love of writing again and I’ll forever be thankful for that. I’m thankful for 2020, even though it changed our plans, I think we can all find something good that has come from this year.
Plans are dependent on reality, and reality is that life is ever changing, ever uncertain. This holiday season though we can be certain of one thing, God’s plan for us is all good, even if it doesn’t feel like it. We may not see the good until down the road, but it’s there, waiting for us to see it.
So, as we exit 2020 and enter 2021 let’s not allow ourselves to become lazy, let’s not wait for another “stay at home” order to get us to follow up on dreams and plans we’ve had. Let’s not allow life’s constant change make us give up. No matter what life throws at us we can still find the good, we can still wish on stars and see our dreams come true. They may not happen like we imagined, but when we don’t give up, when we try, that’s success in and of itself.
Abigail Elizabeth Black 