In Beyond Lucky, my main character, Ari Fish, believes something that I believe, too:
Life is a sine wave.
There are good days.
There are bad days.
You get good news.
You get bad news.
Basically, you have to learn to roll with it. To not count on luck. To believe in yourself. And keep working.
Stop comparing yourself to others.
In other words: embrace the struggle.
That’s what I’ve been thinking about a lot–and for good reasons. I just met an AMAZING group of writers at my workshop at the Highlights Foundation, Get To Know Your Novel. Their bravery and tenacity just blew me away!
Also: I dove into my revision of The Wish List Four: Survival of the Sparkliest!
This is something I never thought I could do: A SERIES. Yesterday, I came up with some new ideas for my next novel. And then I got a nice invitation.
I was on a roll!
But then I got a rejection. And a no thank you note.
In the past, this rejection might have wrecked my day–made me question myself. But yesterday, I did something else. I unplugged. I drew. I took a walk. I finished the chapter I was working on.
Do you see where I’m going?
Failure is only bad if it stops you from writing.
Failure is only bad if it chips at your purpose.
This morning as my son got ready for school, we talked about struggle and how it can make us doubt ourselves. It can dismantle our confidence.
But it doesn’t have to. Struggle and failure are good things, too. They make sure our egos stay checked. They make sure we take NO STEP for granted. Struggle means we have more to attain. More to strive for.
These days, I see failure as a set up for new goals. When I’m struggling to get what I want–that’s a good thing. (And we might as well admit: it doesn’t go away.) For me, the struggle to do better, to write more, to create, to improve my school visits is part of the push and pull that makes me a better writer. It’s also FUN. And not EASY.
And that’s good.
When I feel doubt taking over my day, I check myself and go back to PLAY. I remind myself that struggle is a sign that I am reaching for something BIG. And important. And when that feels hard, I now see that as an invitation to play–to try something new–to try some new way in.
That new way is waiting.
Back to work.