The last piece in this trio of blog posts is about acceptance. It’s a skill as much as learning to maintain your focus. It takes practice. But it falls somewhere between the empirical and emotional partnering of focus and determination. It’s about learning to be at peace.
This is a skill I need to spend more time on. Because time is one of the biggest factors that’s outside of my control—outside of all our control. It will progress at the same pace, whether I’m writing or not, whether I’m exercising or meditating, or doing any of the things I need to do to be the best, fully realized version of myself. The me I was born to become.
I can’t control the timeline in achieving my particular dream—of making writing my full-time career. I can’t even control all of my goals. I want to break into the top ten of several big categories with my books. I want to write bestsellers. I want to reach more readers, to share my worlds and the amazing characters within them. All of that is outside of my control.
People will read the books or they won’t. They’ll love them or they won’t. All I can do is create my best works, and let them go so I can move on to the next. I could spend forever on a single work if I tried for perfection. I need to accept that each book I put out is the best work I can create for that moment. I need to accept that luck and timing will play a factor—I can’t just work my way toward these goals. At the same time, I have to keep moving, striving, seeking. It’s a precarious balance to maintain.
At the end of each day, I need to let go everything that didn’t happen. I have to keep my faith that some day, the work and sacrifice will pay off. And I need to be able to find peace and happiness with where I am in each moment. To accept where I am, but keep moving toward my goals. One step at a time. One day at a time.
And more than that—I want to be grateful. Each step is important. Taking time at each stage of my writing career’s development has prepared me that much more for the next step. I’ve grown stronger with each new experience. Learned. Adjusted my goals and my paths toward them.
It will take time and continued effort to reach my goals, to achieve my dream. I accept that. And I am so grateful to have come as far as I have—even to have so far still to go.
I will never be finished writing. I will never stop striving in my writing career.
I have worlds in me. They need to be shared.
One story at a time.
Published by