A certain person whose identity will remain concealed in the mists of anonymity complained to me repeatedly that he had no time to read. When I noticed he had no difficulty finding time to watch television, sometimes for hours on end, I mentioned this as gently as possible. To his credit, he took my point. His television is cold and dark more often now, and he reads on a regular basis.
Too often we tell ourselves what we can’t do. We make obstacles and excuses for a number of reasons — habit and fear among them. But there are enough voices ready to kill our dreams. Let’s not add our own to them. Let’s not kid ourselves and miss the rich, rewarding things waiting to be discovered. We live but once for a moment. Why not grab the treasures in life — those golden moments money can’t buy.
How about you? What do you tell yourself you can’t do? What obstacles do you put in your own way? How can you break free?
Obstacles… there are so many! My most common one is allowing mental exhaustion to get the best of me. Due to my role at work, by the time I get home I am so mentally exhausted that I don’t have the energy to focus on my writing. What I try and do instead is orchestrate a book trailer or a book cover, or I edit the back cover copy, or reorganize my digital files. At times this captures my attention and I find myself reading/editing/expanding.
If I find that I am not exhausted but only lacking direction, I will pop open the laptop and moodle around there while ignoring the white noise of the TV. (It’s amazing how having something to ignore will help me focus!)
Hi, Nona. It sounds like you manage your time well. I can only ignore extraneous noise to a certain point. I have to have quiet to concentrate. This makes me somewhat vulnerable but I’ve learned to adapt.
Wow, I have a blog too but I can’t write as well as you do. Good stuff.