My son has a couple of late assignments to work on over the Christmas holidays. He's procratinated, mostly because he doesn't "agree with" the assignments so he refuses to do them. In trying to deal with his procratination and encourage him to get them done so he doesn't have to repeat the course and derail his future plans I compared the assignments to stones on a cobblestone road.
"Every task you do in your life takes you one stone closer to the end of the road. Whether you like each stone or not, it gets you one step closer to your goal."
The goal, for him, is to one day enter law school.
For me, the goal is to write and publish books.
Whatever road we choose, there are undesirable stones we must step on in order to get there. I hate writing synopses and outlines, but that what helps me get my books to agents and publishers and out into the world. I also hate doing laundry, but that, incredibly, is another necessary stone in life.
I look back at my dad who had brain surgery nearly 20 years ago and see how many stones he passed by completely in order to walk and speak properly again. He's still not 100%, mostly because the people who could have helped him the most were banished from his life, but partly because of choices he made and the path he did take. According to him, he is perfect.
Perfection is a delusion.
He's not perfect, nor am I. I will never be perfect. I dont' desire to be perfect, that is not my path.
My path, cobblestones and all, is to be the best writer, mother, wife, daughter and friend I can be. I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I jump over stones and try to alter my path by choosing options I wouldn't normally choose. But at the end of the day, we need to come back and deal with some of the stones in our path that we've overlooked. Not to make us "perfect" but to make sure we leave no stone unturned and untouched. They are all part of our journey.
"Every task you do in your life takes you one stone closer to the end of the road. Whether you like each stone or not, it gets you one step closer to your goal."
The goal, for him, is to one day enter law school.
For me, the goal is to write and publish books.
Whatever road we choose, there are undesirable stones we must step on in order to get there. I hate writing synopses and outlines, but that what helps me get my books to agents and publishers and out into the world. I also hate doing laundry, but that, incredibly, is another necessary stone in life.
I look back at my dad who had brain surgery nearly 20 years ago and see how many stones he passed by completely in order to walk and speak properly again. He's still not 100%, mostly because the people who could have helped him the most were banished from his life, but partly because of choices he made and the path he did take. According to him, he is perfect.
Perfection is a delusion.
He's not perfect, nor am I. I will never be perfect. I dont' desire to be perfect, that is not my path.
My path, cobblestones and all, is to be the best writer, mother, wife, daughter and friend I can be. I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I jump over stones and try to alter my path by choosing options I wouldn't normally choose. But at the end of the day, we need to come back and deal with some of the stones in our path that we've overlooked. Not to make us "perfect" but to make sure we leave no stone unturned and untouched. They are all part of our journey.
