“The secret to getting ahead is getting started,” said Mark Twain. (They say Agatha Christie said this too). Either way, they both did a lot of writing.
The secret to not getting ahead is fear. Fear stalls the getting ahead. We don’t DO because we’re afraid, but we’re never going to get ahead if we never DO.
I know that fear has still not left me despite solidly crafting a fictional world, creating a world of fictional characters, and a plot that hasn’t previously existed (or at least doesn’t exist in a world I know). I’ve got under a 100,000 words for a fiction novel, snippets of stories, and I’m presently molding it into cohesive form.
And I’m still scared to write.
What if it doesn’t make sense?
What if it is mediocre?
What if no one will want to read it?
And what if no one will give me the opportunity to publish it anyway?
These thoughts haven’t disappeared as I’ve continued to sit in front of this laptop.
I’m not exceptional in my courage. And I’ve learned I’m also not exceptional in my fear.
I have one simple vision: I have wanted to write a book as long as I can remember. So I have to write.
I don’t tell myself not to be afraid. I don’t tell myself I have succeeded if I have offers to publish before it’s complete. I tell myself I have succeeded by the mere act of following through every.single.day.
This is the same with homeschooling.
We show up every.single.day. We do the homeschool. And we keep doing the homeschool thing. Until they’ve left our home. Or until we decide to approach our family life differently. Or until life requires us to shift directions.
And we do it knowing we’ll make mistakes, we couldn’t possibly do it perfectly, there is no one right way to enact the homeschool thing, so we just DO.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a child waiting for me.
Enjoy the book of homeschool encouragement for you, homeschool mama: Homeschool Mama Self-Care: Nurturing the Nurturer
Get your free Homeschool Mama Reading List here.
You can also take a mini-retreat here: the Homeschool Mama Retreat.
I love it mom!! Great blog post!😘
Why thank you my girl!
Hurrah! The emotion you will feel on holding your complete book in your hands, whenever that day comes, will be so worth it! A dream come true!
😉 i sure hope so! Thank you for your kind words.
For sure! And in the mean time writing is what you love, so the process is awesome, too!