The secret no one tells you…
When you start chasing a dream, it’s new, it’s fresh. You feel inspired.
You decide on a focus. You set a schedule. Word counts, posting goals. You tweet. You write.
You watch as your traffic grows and you celebrate your tenth subscriber.
There are hard times, too. There are days when you really just want to stay in bed, but you get up and you slog it out. There are days when the words don’t come easy. You get in the ring, lace up your gloves, and come out battered and bloody with maybe only a couple hundred words to show for it.
You’re ready for that too.
You get back up and you keep doing it, just because it’s hard. You’re a pro, and that’s what pros do.
But there’s a little secret:
There are days that you just can’t do it at all.
Those are the days that no one tells you about.
All of the inspiration in the world won’t make a difference when you haven’t slept in a week and you finally have been asleep for four hours in a row and the alarm rings. Sorry. Dreams are important, but falling asleep at the wheel of a car or while stirring a pot of mac and cheese because it’s the only thing you can motivate yourself to throw on the stove to get food down the throats of the little birds chirping at the table?
Some things truly come first.
And even at your weakest, you find that you won’t admit it. You won’t ask for help. You won’t take an intentional break.
You practice writing in the second person.
* * *
For over a year, I’ve been getting up early, rocking out words, sharing some of the best (and some of the not-as-great) ones here.
I’ve made friends, I’ve grown a bit as a writer. I’ve met a Zombie named Zach who has earned some friends of his own.
But if you’ve been paying attention, you might have noticed that it’s gotten a little bit inconsistent. I’ve missed deadlines. I’ve posted late. I’ve skipped posts entirely.
I’m on the edge of a huge change (stay tuned for more on Monday), and recently, it’s just gotten overwhelming.
I remember over a year ago at the very first Quitter Conference, a guy named Bryan shared a story about an alien. (Bryan became a full-time Quitter just last week…leaving his day job to focus on his dream, Killer Tribes. Click the badge over the on right to discover more….)
He (the alien, not Bryan) lands on earth in the middle of an amusement park (let’s make it Cedar Point, because we all know that’s the best coaster park in the world. truly. but that’s not what the story is about…).
So the alien gets on the roller coaster, but he’s never seen one before. He doesn’t know how these things work.
So they strap him in and then it starts going up kinda slow and he’s like “uh, hm?” and he looks around and he’s all like “This is pretty cool.”
But then it clears the top of the hill and plunges down toward the ground and he thinks he’s gonna die. At the last minute, it pulls up hard and yanks him around a curve at top speed and then climbs up high again. Cool, but now he doesn’t really trust it…
You get the idea. Bryan’s point was to not be like that alien. To be ready for the low spots. To be ready for the twists and turns. And to know that there will be another hill.
There will be another up.
I just need to hang on.
What’s hard for you right now? Leave a comment…
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About Christine
I am a writer, a project manager, and a corporate refugee with a heart for orphans around the world. My two daughters were adopted from Ukraine at ages 12 and 14. I post about writing, chasing dreams, and making a difference in the world, and sometimes I share fun snippets of fiction in-progress.
What’s hard for me right now is, like you said, balancing writing and life. I’m not talking “feed the kids” life because there are none of those in my life right now. I’m talking “put the phone down and be social,” “help others with their pieces but don’t neglect yours,” and “if you can write your name with dust bunnies, they need to go” life. There are a lot of words coming through these fingers but they’re not all mine.
Katie
“Feed the kids” can take on a lot of different forms. I agree that balance is tough…if not impossible at times. These days, I’m striving for “harmony.” Still not there, but moving closer. You have some really exciting things spinning up, and lots of people (including me) rooting for you!
Thanks, Christine! I appreciate the support!
Anytime, my friend!
I am right there with you. I had forgotten Bryan’s story about the alien. I am going through some low points too. But, we will get through this. And your courage for the big change is super exciting. Give yourself a break if you need to. You’ve been hustling hard for a year. Big changes also require a snall break to celebrate and reflect. Proud of you!
We’ll lift each other up, my friend! I can’t wait to announce my plan for next week… 😉
I am also dealing with some crazy times in my life. Trying to recover from what I thought was a certain job opportunity and keep on slogging for more. It can sometimes be hard to ride out that low, but I think it helps to have others’ support. Hope things pick up for you soon.
I hear ya, John! It’s really tough to hang on when something you wanted so bad falls through, but you WILL come out on top. You have such a unique perspective and your story is amazing and inspiring to so many. Keep the faith and keep sharing yourself!!
What’s hard for me now is what’s always been hard – being disciplined and being a procrastinator and oh so many other things. I love writing and blogging and trying to build a community. But it would be easy to get discouraged and give up. I’m commited to seeing this through as I feel like God has something in store, that there are people who will read these words and leave feeling encouraged, inspired, and hopefully changed.
I’m thankful to have met you, Christine, and Zach.
I pray that as these changes come in your life, you will embrace them and hold tight to the good that is surely to come out of them.
Thanks, Denise. I agree it’s tough to break through the desire to procrastinate!
Thanks for the mention, Christine! Remember, the alien didn’t know how to handle the ups of the coaster either! He thought he was on a spaceship back to his home planet.
Part of this tough journey is riding out the lows because you know another high point is coming, and the other part is celebrating the highs all the while realizing that they are temporary and more setbacks will eventually find you.
I wish it was all ups, but it’s an ups AND downs way to live, so we’ve got to ride it all out and find a way to enjoy the journey. and yes, sometimes enjoying the journey means taking a break from the roller coaster for a period of time.
Oh, Bryan, I had completely forgotten his first response to going up the hill! Thanks so much for your encouragement and for such a great analogy!
This is spot. on. I’ve had a number of dips lately — times where I just don’t have anything in me to write (2nd person or otherwise). And I’m learning it’s okay to take a step back, recharge, and get ready for the next upward turn. It’ll come!
Right now I’m finding it hard to set aside regular writing time. There are a number of things I’m trying to get a handle on, and too often that still falls by the wayside. But I’ll get it sorted out again.
I hear ya. 5AM has worked for me for quite a while, but lately…not so much. Experiment, be creative with your time, and give yourself lots of grace.
oh christine, it’s like you are reading my mind. i, too, have been wandering in a low point the past few weeks. i am scraping my way to the top of the next hill, but it sure is hard. always glad to read that i’m not the only one.
i so wish i could make it to nashville for the quitter conference. and wish even more that i could be a quitter. but as i keep learning – i’m the only one who can make that happen. gotta do the work, as pressfield says.
great post!
keep scraping, Tim! The beauty of being a Quitter is that it’s not an event, it’s a long-term process.
thanks, christine. i need that constant reminder that life is a marathon and not a sprint. nor is life a singular moment. i always seem to have a hard time with that…
Don’t we all? Give yourself some grace…
Too many things on my plate at the moment Christine, loved this post!!
I hear ya! I’m so far behind on the things/people I care about. Hang in there!
Well said Christine! It seems like my “needs to” list keeps getting longer and longer while the “wants to” list becomes a distant memory. I need a recharge some where!
Yeah, me too! It’s important, and the longer you wait, the more recharge time you need!
What a post! Again, you have knocked that lie ‘I’m alone’ to the floor. Thank you for being so incredibly honest and reminding me of what Bryan said at that first conference!
Right now the hardest parts are remembering why I’m doing this, trusting the process, learning by trial and error, being supportive of other’s dreams while not comparing their progress with my own…I could just keep going on this one…
I really like what you wrote. I sit down and write short pieces only to delete them. I keep starting and never finishing. I have so many stories in my head and it stops there. That’s my quitter mentality. You are inspiring to me.
stop deleting them!!
That’s the first step.
I used to think that when something came out of my fingers it had to be perfect. One of the most freeing things for me was to discover that writers that I really admired usually wrote really horrible first drafts. The difference was that they edited where I deleted.