Perseverance pays off. Even the snail made it to the Ark.
I saw this quote on a notice board outside a local Church and I couldn’t suppress a chuckle. Sometimes life really is all about ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ The trouble is, of course, we live in an ‘instant’ generation when we expect everything to happen right here and now.
Sometimes too we tend to mark our progress in great leaps and bounds; rather than acknowledging the baby steps. It sounds much more exciting to be able to say you’ve lost 20 kilos instead of just 2. And it’s much more impressive to boast of running 10 kilometres over a 10 minute jog in the park.
But, of course, it is always much harder to achieve the big steps, and much easier to become discouraged and defeated too.
I became discouraged and defeated for a while. We had some problems; family and work issues, and it all just got on top of me. I even considered taking down my Blog. Who really wants to read anything I write, after all?
My ultimate aim had been to build up a following; attracting readers who might then be interested in reading some of my short stories if I made them available. But, after nearly two years of Blogging, I have 11 followers and only about 2166 views. That’s couldn’t really be called ‘setting the world on fire’, now, could it?
But then I read another quote that made me stop and think.
‘A writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.’ Junot Diaz
Two years ago I didn’t have a Blog and I certainly couldn’t boast having my work viewed 2166 times. Baby steps perhaps - but progress all the same.
And today I uploaded my first eBook. It’s a short story that I’ve been trying to write for the last eight years. Imagine that? Eight years and the finished work is only just under 14,000 words.
Will anyone actually buy my eBook? It would be nice if they did, of course. It would certainly do wonders for my ego. But this would be more about the leaps and bounds of progress rather than the baby steps.
For now I need to be content with having made it to the Ark.
©Lyn Murphy 2011
To check out my eBook, click on the link below
The Doorway
2 comments:
Congrats Lyn!
This is terrific news.
I suspect that just about every blogger reaches a point where they consider quitting. I wrote a post about my contemplation of that decision last year. My readers encouraged me to continue. The number of visitors and comments are up recently, so things are improving. It's still hard at times, I know.
This post resonated with me because I make an effort to celebrate small victories. For me, those small celebrations help to keep me focused.
Completing and publishing an eBook is much more than a small step, it's a very cool accomplishment. I've purchased your eBook and am looking forward to reading it.
Ray
You know what I've been feeling so down about so much these days and then I woke up to your lovely message and thought I'd pop over.
Well, like a sign from above your post has given me so many messages that have really hit home.
I am definitely part of generation now and get so frustrated that my goals have taken me years to eventuate rather than immediately seeing results.
And as for writing I was already thinking my blogs been falling on deaf ears (and it's only been 2 months! See I am impatient lol) but you've reminded me that the whole point was to get me writing again in the first place. Blogs are creative outlets and there's more chance of people stumbling across my work here than there is by scribbling in a notebook tucked away on my shelf. Thank you for reminding me of all this today.
I'll be checking out your ebook soon and look forward to seeing what its all about.
Thank you for taking the time to visit me & comment - you've done me a world of good xx
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