While walking out of my front door today, I found a lizard doing circles on my small concrete walkway. It looked as if the lizard was trying to bite the walkway, yet it never opened its mouth. For almost a full hour, we watched it out the window, trying to understand what it was doing, unsure if it was sick, injured, or doing something natural that we had simply not known of before.
Now imagine with me, that you are that little lizard. You’re outside spinning in circles, minding your own business when suddenly you realize, there are strange things watching you. Staring, pointing, whispering. You have never seen them before and have no idea if they are friendly or a predator waiting to eat you.
Sometimes that is what it can feel like when you suddenly realize you have followers. It can be exciting and terrifying at the same time. You have no idea if it is someone who loves you and your book, or a troll waiting in the wings with their keyboard of bitterness and condemnation.
We can take a lesson from the little lizard. While we had no idea what it was doing, it did. It was not worried about anything but what it needed to do. How do I know? Simple, I found it by almost stepping on it. Then I jumped a foot high, because I thought it was a snake. It didn’t care at all that I was less than a foot away from it. It had a mission, and nothing was going to stop it.
Likewise, if you feel the call to write, you have your own mission. There will always be others out there who are watching. Sometimes friendly, other times not so much, but we must stay focused on our goal and not worry about the rest. I will repeat what I say often to my children. “You are not responsible for other people’s thoughts or actions. You can only control your thoughts, actions, and reactions.”
My writing mission is to share about victims of abuse and human trafficking, so others may better understand and lend aid to the victims while offering hope to those who have been through such horrors. My podcasting calling is to teach writers about rural life and lifestyles. I have a good friend whose goal is to share joy with others. Another shares history in new and creative ways. No, I am not talking about Assassin’s Creed, though that was creative.
I would love to hear from you. What are your goals? What do you share? What is your favorite thing others share, that fills up your soul with hope and peace?
Now imagine with me, that you are that little lizard. You’re outside spinning in circles, minding your own business when suddenly you realize, there are strange things watching you. Staring, pointing, whispering. You have never seen them before and have no idea if they are friendly or a predator waiting to eat you.
Sometimes that is what it can feel like when you suddenly realize you have followers. It can be exciting and terrifying at the same time. You have no idea if it is someone who loves you and your book, or a troll waiting in the wings with their keyboard of bitterness and condemnation.
We can take a lesson from the little lizard. While we had no idea what it was doing, it did. It was not worried about anything but what it needed to do. How do I know? Simple, I found it by almost stepping on it. Then I jumped a foot high, because I thought it was a snake. It didn’t care at all that I was less than a foot away from it. It had a mission, and nothing was going to stop it.
Likewise, if you feel the call to write, you have your own mission. There will always be others out there who are watching. Sometimes friendly, other times not so much, but we must stay focused on our goal and not worry about the rest. I will repeat what I say often to my children. “You are not responsible for other people’s thoughts or actions. You can only control your thoughts, actions, and reactions.”
My writing mission is to share about victims of abuse and human trafficking, so others may better understand and lend aid to the victims while offering hope to those who have been through such horrors. My podcasting calling is to teach writers about rural life and lifestyles. I have a good friend whose goal is to share joy with others. Another shares history in new and creative ways. No, I am not talking about Assassin’s Creed, though that was creative.
I would love to hear from you. What are your goals? What do you share? What is your favorite thing others share, that fills up your soul with hope and peace?
- Author notes
- An uplifting series to encourage writers.
- Story length
- short story
