Plowing Through

     Have you ever had one of those days where you felt like you couldn't get anything significant done no matter how hard you tried? I think I'm having one of those days right now. I've been working on the drafts of this entry for the whole day and it's not going anywhere fast. That dreaded phantom known as writer's block is looming its eerie head over my keyboard.

     I can't say I have any particularly deep insight into what to do when this kind of thing strikes. I haven't been afflicted with it very much. That's probably a sign I'm not working hard enough. All I can say is what I've been trying to do. Keep going.

     That's the typical, used up, trite, bland, hackneyed, cliché, boring, stale, worn out, same old, same old answer. I know. But I don't know of any better method. It certainly hasn't helped to sit out on the back patio and meditate. A quick break is helpful, sure. But before and after that break there have to be periods of significant struggle toward the goal. Plow through the valley, and eventually you'll make it to another hill.

     All last week, I was struggling to produce a remotely acceptable draft of a short story. I likened doing so to pulling down a great white mountain (the blank page) and replacing it with a vast black valley. By days 3-5, I could barely get my pickaxe swinging in the right direction. But I kept chipping away at the rocks as best I could, hoping for that moment when I would get a big breakthrough and half the mountain would just fall. It happened, but not until after two days of trying to work and feeling useless and hopeless.

     What am I trying to say here? Stick with it. I know it's tough. You don't have to tell me twice. I believe you. But, if you really want to succeed, to achieve your goals in whatever field you experience difficulty in, you need to keep going. Yes, it's hard. But that's what makes it worthwhile.

     So my word of encouragement for you is that I know to some extent how you feel, and that if you keep plowing through, you will succeed. The mountain will fall if you keep on swinging.