Have you ever felt like giving up creative writing?
Not just when life gets a little hard or you think it’d be easier to just quit. I’m talking about those times when you’ve not let yourself quit writing time after time, and you just start feeling like your situation is never going to change. You feel like you’re throwing everything in you, down to your toes to keep writing –and it’s still not enough.
It’s those days when the hits keep coming and a friend stabs you in the back and a client pulls out on you at the last minute and you start thinking, “I can’t do this. I don’t know what else to do. I want to give up.”
Have you ever been there? I have.
News flash: It’s not fun. But the people who overcome when other people quit see real success on the other side.
Anybody who is anybody got there by refusing to quit. Everyone from Olympic athletes to world-famous novelists like J.K. Rowling and Steven King–who both received rejections from multiple publishers–will tell you that the key to success is to never quit and never give up.
It’s hard to see the path to success on the other side of difficulties when you’re in the messy middle. I get that. I’m there myself. So, what’s the key to overcoming the challenges of life when everything in you is screaming at you to just give up?
Perspective.
That’s it. That’s the key.
Out of perspective flows an attitude of gratitude, eyes to see what you do have, instead of what you don’t. Perspective is the antidote to the deadly disease of comparison. Perspective helps you accept where you’re at, and work to improve, instead of being frustrated by unrealistic expectations.
The gift of perspective expands our view of ourselves and our circumstances, a view that can magnify stress and negative events until all we can see is obstacles. Perspective looks at roadblocks as opportunities for growth and learning. Perspectives brings you and me out of our own head enough to see that there are others around us who love and care about us.
The gift of perspective is the true game changer.
If you’re feeling discouraged today–maybe in your writing, maybe just in life–take a step back and regain your perspective. The obstacles may not be as imposing as you think. Or maybe they are.
Either way, gaining perspective can lift you out of the discouragement and give you the courage to hang strong one more day, to take the next step.
Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Just hang on and take the next step.
A great way to help your mental health as an author is to make sure you’re staying in community. Come join my Facebook group for women authors or connect with me on Instagram.