My beloved mama made another trip to the Emergency Room today; that’s the Bad and the Not-So-Great. The Good is, she’s back at home. I’ll be checking in on her first thing tomorrow morning, before the weekly Weight Watchers meeting. (The Bad.) I had a routine appointment with my doctor this morning, so I know my weight has gone up. Drat! On the other hand, there’s something very empowering about knowing where you are and what you need to do to get to a better place—if that’s in the Big Guy’s plan, that is.
This morning, I listened to a TED talk, one of my favorite things to do, and I found a real nugget of information: Invest in the process, not the outcome. The desired outcome, the goal, is only valuable insofar as it helps one to set a direction.
How many of us really do that, as a matter of course? Just do our best, I mean, and let things shake out? Not this cowgirl, I’m sad to say. I look at the goal, the end result, and if it doesn’t happen just the way I envisioned it, I (not always but too often) believe I’m a failure. And yet, truthfully, the thing I love most about writing is…writing! Royalty checks, bestseller lists and good reviews are all very well, don’t get me wrong. But I agree with the TED speaker: we have only limited control over our actions and absolutely none over the way things turn out. Now, I’m asking myself why I fret over things that I can’t control. It’s the process I really love–creating characters, coming up with a setting, making up a whole world as I go along. For me and, I think, for most writers, that’s where the rubber meets the road. Seems like a good idea to focus my energies and talents on the stories themselves, not the prizes I may or may not win. This is another of those things I thought I already knew–and didn’t. ( PLUG INTO YOUR HARD-WIRED HAPPINESS, Srikumar Rao. Look on Audible.com’s ‘channels’ for TED talks and you’ll find it.)
I found another jewel in Marianne Williamson’s book, TEARS TO TRIUMPH, previously mentioned, a prayer: Make my mind an open channel for right thinking. I love that so much! Since I hit a wrong key, you’re probably going to get a mixed-up version if you subscribe. Check out www.lindalaelmiller.com for the corrected one.
In closing, another question. What inspires you?
About Linda
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.
Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.
