Silver Lining

I wasn't even going to blog today, because the last couple of days have been a bummer. On Thursday, the motor in my mommy mobile went kaput. And as all moms know, when the mommy mobile goes kaput, it's Suburban Armageddon. We'll for sure work it all out, but man, I thought I was having a bad day.

And then...

Last night, just as my son's JV football game was about to begin, a car on a nearby freeway hit the rails and flipped several times. A woman and three kids were injured (my firefighter hubby helped on scene, and says they'll be ok). Then during the second quarter of the Varsity game, a player from the opposing team had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. Those people had a bad day. For real.

On Thursday, without even knowing about my car problem, my 15-year-old son had posted this on Facebook:

"Sit down, relax, close your eyes, and just thank God for keeping you alive and healthy in a free country with a roof over your head, no matter what you're going through."

Yes. He wrote that. So even though I didn't feel prepared to blog today, and even if this post might be riddled with poor grammar and sentence structure, I thought I'd share that with you.

If you're having a rough day, I hope my son's words of wisdom help you as much as they helped me.

Have you ever thought you were having a bad day and then, bam!, you realized your day wasn't so bad after all? Please share!

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What if our publishing dreams don't come true?

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/700224

How would you answer the following question?

If I never sign with an agent, or sell this book, or the next book, or reach bestseller status, I'll:


a. Jump off a bridge
b. Park my car in front of a speeding train
c. Bitterly mope through life
d. Be just fine


Hopefully no one who reads this post gets any bitter, suicidal thoughts! I'll share a secret with you: I really, really want to get published. Most writers do. We read, we learn, we write, we take a deep breath and put our work out there, and we persevere. But this I know for sure: If I never win the literary lotto, I'll still have peace in my heart.

Why?

Here's the deal: Last week, while on a cruise with my family, I sat by the pool, reading a captivating book. I had one of those light-shot-through-the-sky-and-angels-singing moments. No one saw or heard it but me, but it happened. I swear.

I'm at peace with my writing journey, no matter where it leads, because I'm counting my blessings. My family is healthy. My husband has a good job. We have a home. We have two cars that are old, but still fire up when we turn the keys. I have the ability to read great stories, and I have the skills to write my own.

While waiting in a buffet line, my husband had a conversation with a woman who was cruising with her daughter. Her 18-year-old daughter was born with Down Syndrome, and now has stage four cancer. They're at a point in their lives where they are living in the moment, and enjoying each day together.

Talk about perspective.

Wherever our writing journeys take us, hopefully we're at peace with it. We're reading amazing stories. We're writing. We're discussing books and writing with each other. Hopefully we can count our blessings along the way.

Because heck...if all our dreams don't come true, then death by train or bridge, or bitterly moping through life, would sure be a waste.

What's your take on this? If all your literary dreams don't come true, how would you feel? Does putting it all in perspective help? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Perspective

It's how we view things...

A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse below and dreams of home. ~Robert Brault

The other night I felt low. I was frustrated with my manuscript, my synopsis was birdcage-worthy, and my query needed to be torn apart and rewritten. I felt like I was scaling a colossal, jagged mountain while wearing flip flops.

Then a Facebook friend posted a need for prayer. The problems her family is facing crushed mine to proper size. My writing troubles became pebbles, and all I needed to do was step over them.

Writing and publishing are important to me, and sometimes I allow the obsession to consume me. But life has a way of shifting priorities to their correct place in line. That night I switched from the ME channel to the FRIEND channel. My friend's call for help gave me a much-needed dose of perspective.

My writing issues matter, but they're a far cry from lost jobs, troubled kids, and failing health.

How do you keep your writing journey in perspective? And has this ever happened to you--when BAM, real life smashes your writing mountains down to pebbles? I'd love to hear your story.

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