To all you creative beings with ideas, dreams, visions that swirl in your head, do you ever start a thing and then find yourself in a frustrated heap on the side of the road? You heard the voice over the loudspeaker, “start your engines” and you did. Or you’re at the starting line, “on your mark, get set, GO!” You gave the start your all. You’re so excited that you finally started that “one thing” that God put in you to do. You’re on your way and then slowly your engine starts to sputter, the red light of burnout comes on, and you pull over. You’re stalled on the side of the road. You make the call to roadside assistance and the tow truck is on its way.
Does that sound remotely familiar? Have you been there or are you there now? Well, let me be the first to confess…I was stalled…in a frustrated heap. I had to call for road side assistance to get me back on track.
As a writer who encourages people and loves to hear their story, my mind is always writing. I wake up writing. When I’m talking to people, listening to their story, the word processor in my brain is scribbling away. As a creative entrepreneur, there are many thoughts roaming around in my head of how to make the words do their job. As a lover of beautiful things, music, dance, the arts, and all of God’s handiwork of nature, there are so many expression opportunities. I can see them sometimes in quick succession, accomplishing what I love to do and that is to touch the soul with my pen and give voice to kind words of soothing hope. But I found myself, so mentally bombarded that I neglected some of the main things that I had already started. The engine light came on, I started sputtering excuses as to why some things weren’t completed. Signs of burnout caused me to pull over and I stalled. Called for roadside assistance, the tow truck hauled me in for repairs and now I’m on the road again!
Realized a few things that helped me. You might be able to use them should you ever need to.
- Pace yourself. When you start, give that thing the time, energy, passion and dedication it needs. That one thing of yours has a jealous streak…it doesn’t want to share you with other things.
- Be committed. So many wonderful opportunities will come your way. They are always waiting just around the bend. Greet them with careful scrutiny and then discern if they should share your time, energy, passion and dedication with the one thing.
- Be wise. Use your head and realize when it’s too full. Calm yourself down and focus on the one thing. If you have a ton of scribbled notes on your brain, transfer them to paper. Then assess what will enhance the one thing. Ask if it will get along with the one thing and walk hand in hand to accomplish the goal. If not, put it on hold or toss it.
Oh and make sure that should you stall, you have the number for road side assistance. Call someone who will keep you honest and help get you unstuck with wise words that don’t waste time.
I’d love to hear if any of this pertains to you. Do you need to “fess up”? If so, let me hear your story. But be careful, I just might be listening and scribbling all at the same time.