Oh, hi friends!
People who try are the ones I admire the most.
Not the ones who actually accomplish the thing.
Or the ones who have ideas but never make them real.
But the people who are churning along, deep in learning, deep in effort, unswayed by injuries and failures and voices that say "Why?"
We are always drawn to these people. They seem to know a secret.
But they don't.
They're just like you and me.
Actually, they are you and me.
Because today we can try, again and again.
I thought this was the end of the newsletter. I actually built it and almost hit send, but felt like there was more to say.
How do we choose which activities or projects to try — to put our own best effort in there?
Looking at my own week, I got overwhelmed: I need to try harder with my podcast, I want to help more people launch their planes, I must talk about my new journal coming out in two months, but gosh I gotta grow my social media if I ever want to sell another book, but I should pitch a few articles if I want to make some $$ and help my credibility and feelings of self-worth, or what if I just spent 20 hours a week volunteering with my two favorite groups of people: older folks and cats (yes cats are people) that would be fulfilling, but why don’t I just run a fall marathon, or why don’t I prioritize quality time with important people in my life and tell them how much they mean to me, or hey what about transitioning into a new career in advertising?
Lol.
We can never only choose one thing to try.
That would be boring anyway.
But spinning our wheels won’t help either.
This is what I’m going to do today: Pick one thing. One thing that counts — to you.
Tomorrow you always can try again.
I just stumbled upon this post thanks to my friend Meg. I needed to see it. I'm in that trough of despair right now. You know, the one you step into right after you step off the hamster wheel of all the things you're busy doing to make your life, your dream real. I'm always struggling to find a place beyond these extreme mental olympics. The steady place, when I do find it is just the work. Just doing the work I love whether anyone finds it or not. Thanks for posting this lovely and timely little piece, Kara.
Well, maybe you'll win a Nobel and a couple of Pulitzers, too!