Today's post started off being about something else. Then I found this quote and I knew what I had to write about. The one thing all authors have in common with everyone else. It's only one word, but it can rule our world like no other. That one word is FEAR.
I know that I am a nervous wreck with every query I prepare to send out. My hand shakes as I move the mouse closer to the send button. With one click, my stomach flips and the fear of, "Oh, no! I need to make sure I didn't mess it up!" sets in. I'll admit it. I'm afraid that I'll be rejected because I missed a comma in an otherwise well written letter. I know most agents or publishers might look past that, but it's something I can't stop thinking about once I've sent my little letter out into the world. I can only imagine how I'll be when I send my book out there.
The one thing that I've started telling myself when I go to click that button that's helped is to stop being afraid of what might happen. I can't control that no more than I can control what might not happen. Once it's out there, it's out there. A rejection isn't the worst thing in this world. Far from it. I look at my Mom who is battling cancer like a warrior and know life could be a hell of a lot worse for me. I'm healthy and I'm worried over a missed comma when my Mom's not worried at all. She's a fighter and she's passed that on to me. I fight for things and for my dreams. She's the one who makes me see that stressing over that missed comma is nonsense in a world of terror, sickness, and war.
Fear is the easiest little thing that can get into our minds and destroy something that is otherwise bright and beautiful. It's us destroying our own dreams. We have to stop being afraid of what could go wrong and look forward to what could go right. I'm doing that from now on. Whenever I feel myself stressing out, I'm going to look at a picture of my family's warrior and smile. I'll know life can throw curve balls and I can't do a thing to stop it. But I'll also know that I can hit that ball out of the park if I work and fight hard enough to achieve it. I will no longer allow fear to run my world.
What are you afraid of? What do you do when fear controls your world?
Until next time, happy reading/writing everyone!
