We all know people who chose to play it safe rather than to risk failing. Like the person who settles for “Mr/Ms Good Enough” instead of attempting for “Mr/Ms Perfect for Me.” Or the person who says they want to loose weight, but does nothing about
it – they don’t join a gym or change the eating habits. Or it could be the person who says they want to write a novel but doesn’t write a single sentence. So I’m talking about myself in the last sentence. In my head, I know letting fear control me is ridiculous - but somehow it still has it’s talons in my dream draining the life force out. I’ve already spent a year of my life writing a novel, Prelude, and failing. Been there, done that. And it sucks. So now I don’t want to go through the endless rejections from publishers, the criticism from the manuscript appraiser (that I paid for), and the overall destruction of my dream. Thomas Edison said “I failed my way to success.” And maybe this will be something I will one day say, but what if it isn’t? What about if I spend the next ten years writing only to be never published, to never achieve? This is my fear, that I waste my life, my energy, doing something that’s just not meant to be. Shakespeare says, “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing the attempt.” So really it comes down to choice, I can choose to focus on failing, on possible rejection, on a possible negative future, of regrets, of possibly wasting my time. Or I can realise my doubts are not truth but traitors, limiting myself and keeping myself from achieving. Samuel Smiles says, “We learn wisdom from failure much more than success.” We can only choose how we live our lives, so the question I ask myself is do I want to write regardless of the outcome, or not? Do I want to give myself the possibility to achieve my dreams, or do I not even want to try? So after asking myself this question, I went and wrote my novel for nearly two hours. And I loved it. All the fear melted away as I wrote, focusing on action rather than worrying. And I realised when you do what you love, fear can't win. Fear can't reside where love is. So is there any area that you’re letting fear win, and your own self-doubt is betraying you? If so, realise firstly that you’re human and we all feel this way. Secondly, just ask yourself are you going to control your fear, or is fear going to control you? And thirdly, if you let love into the situation it will dissolve all the fear for you. Namaste |
AuthorPenelope Jane Jones. Archives
July 2019
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