As it turns out the title of this post isn’t a question. I should have ended it with an exclamation mark. For what may be the first time, I recognized the early symptoms of being overwhelmed (I haven’t in the past) and took steps to take care of myself.
My plans for this year are ambitious. From podcasting to publishing to fitness to…. Well, let’s just say I’m a Type A who’s had his fair share of winning over the years and really hasn’t known any other way of working other than flat out.
But Mortality Struck
I’ll spare you the details but my reality is that I don’t get sick very often but when I do, I go down. Hard. Dentist to orthodontist to periodontist later, a front tooth has to come out. Bone grafts etc. Only one of two cases like that the surgeon had seen. Oh happy day!
I went down. No energy, little enthusiasm.
You know the drill, you’ve all had it.
Power Through?
Well, I could power through it or I could simply admit I couldn’t do it all. In the past, I’d power on through.
Decided WTF
Seriously. Life is far too short. Life is far too sweet to push through the way I was feeling.
Yes, there were great reasons to push. Yes, I’ve almost always pushed.
But not this time. Took a very deep breath.
And thought about the kinds of things that were important to me. The people that were important and the writing projects I still wanted to do.
Be Kind To Yourself Instead
I decided it would be better to be kind to myself.
- Two major projects were put on hold.
- Didn’t do any podcasts.
- Didn’t write any updates here.
- Didn’t write any fiction.
- Felt guilty at first but relaxed into it as the month progressed.
Fiction Is Important To Me And So Are You
Writing is an important part of my writing future and so are you brave few – those early readers who signed up for updates in the fiction writing world.
A measure of how important fiction is to my future is that one of the things I didn’t drop was a course in fiction writing. I hope you’ll see a big difference in future stories after this course is done.
Thanks
Thanks for your patience as I get myself back on track and start sharing, writing and podcasting again.
Is There Something You Can Take From This?
I thought about this question quite a bit and whether I’d even say these things here or how I’d frame the thoughts.
I decided to share the post here because I think the message is important enough – be kind to yourself – and that most of us aren’t.
I decided to share it here because the fiction side of my writing has been the one that’s taken the brunt of my self-kindness.
This site is – and will be moving forward – exclusively for fiction and the publishing industry.
But the main question remains. Will you be kind to yourself too when you need to be?
And if not, why not?
As A Postscript
I wrote this part after I’d thought about this post and decided I’d report. Taking time for me produced some interesting results.
- The world didn’t end
- I didn’t lose subscribers.
- I took time to read and think – ending up in a much better sense of what should be done
- I’m feeling better about myself
- I took the time to heal physically
- Nobody wrote me complaints
The only failure was my self-imposed standard of excessive ambition.
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