Part Five in the New Beginnings Series
Crisis hits!
Just when you’re making progress on your dream project, the one you’ve secretly carried in your heart for years, something nasty happens. Maybe it’s a car crash, a great loss, illness, or an accident. Or it’s just an overwhelming amount of good things all calling out as a higher priority like sports and family commitments. Phew! It’s almost enough to make you quit all together.
I’m afraid it’s also a sign you’re doing something great and need to consider putting your plans on temporary hold for a while if necessary.
This has happened to me numerous times over the years. I’ve signed up for a project with writing or publishing, and there’s a medical emergency with someone I love or some other interruption that’s truly important. I’ve learned not to let my dreams die, but to just put them on hold temporarily if need be. There’s a difference.
Some examples from our life:
- I came up with the “big idea” for my books, went to a writers conference and was in discussions with a significant opportunity when I received a call my son had broken his leg. I flew home immediately and then spent a whole summer in a heat wave tending to a young one in a body cast (and no air conditioning, and still no home of our own from the fires).
- I was selected to participate in a high-end writing clinic, which was a year-long program. The day after I agreed, my husband had a stroke and was in hospital and rehab for months. I was the main caretaker, and driver, for all of us for several months helping get us back on our feet once more.
- When Joey was born he was in and out of hospital for months with breathing difficulties and on monitors. The very day he came off the monitors and was declared healthy, my husband lost his job and next came months of searching and praying for the right match.
- The list goes on…
Even recently, I lost my voice for almost three weeks and had other hassles that delayed my new website development about a month.
It’s frustrating. It may even be grueling right now. I so get it. But here’s my main point:
The crisis does not define who you are, and it doesn’t have to kill your dream.
The key when these things happen is to remember there will be an end. The crisis is important but does not define who you are at your core, and the idea isn’t bad just because circumstances suddenly became more complicated.
Keep pushing on, knowing your endurance will produce something beautiful. It might even help you break free on some other level you never could have expected. You need to keep moving forward, without giving up. It reminds me a lot of this scene in Finding Nemo:
Crisis ends, now what?
Next week I’ll give you some hard-earned lessons about how to get back on track. For this week, know you aren’t alone and your ideas can be put on simmer and still bloom in another phase of life if necessary.
Hope this is encouraging! Please share your feedback and experiences here, too. They are welcome.
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