Presidency Message

I was doing one of my favorite things--browsing in an LDS bookstore--when suddenly I stopped cold. There, right before my eyes, was the finished book on a topic I had fully intended to write about. And over in the youth section were a couple of great "girl" series: "Latter-Day Daughters" and "Mormon Girls." In the children's section were some fun stories about kids who "Choose the Right," the "CTR" series. Hey, wait! That was MY idea! Oh look, here are some beginning readers using the Book of Mormon stories. None of these books had MY name on them, despite the fact that I had THOUGHT about doing every single one of them! I sighed as disappointment flooded over me, and then I decided it was time to take stock of my writing goals.

Perhaps you have had a similar experience. I have often wondered if the Lord sends out inspiration to several of his capable children at the same time, knowing that only one or two will follow through. Numerous times I have entertained what I thought was a breath of writing inspiration and invested time THINKING about how I would do everything, and then...life got in the way. Time passed. ADD reared its head and rearranged my brain. Whatever. I just didn't do it and lo and behold, SOMEONE ELSE DID! The bottom line is that successful people are those who are willing to do the thing that the rest of us spend our lives avoiding.

Never again...well, at least, not as often. I am ready to declare my intentions! That is, if I don't get too sidetracked. I happen to be someone who is fascinated by nearly everything (as long as it is moral and legal, of course). This makes concentrating on one project and seeing it to completion a bit of a challenge. Perhaps if I actually had the HABIT of doing that project on a regular basis it would help.

Kind of like eating. I seldom forget to do that. Kind of became a habit over the years. So...

Let's take a page from Flylady: (if you have NO idea what I'm talking about, it's okay...you will still get my point, and if it is driving you nuts, email me personally and I will explain who Flylady is ~ I can be reached at jimaniecricket@yahoo.com) Okay, as I was saying, let's declare an ANTI-PROCRASTINATION DAY!

Flylady declared every Wednesday as a day to do one job that you have been putting off for several weeks or even years. It doesn't have to take a long time to do this. Spend 15 minutes and get started. You may be surprised that the job is not as difficult as you thought it might be. You may very well work on it longer than 15 minutes, but that is the MINIMUM amount of time...so, ladies, dust off your old partially-completed premises, your fabulous fiction, joyous journals, excellent editorials and WORK ON THEM (at least) EVERY WEDNESDAY. What do you think? I think we could really surprise ourselves.

Every Wednesday, make an appointment with yourself to sit down at the computer, and start working on a writing project that you have to dig out of the cobwebs of your mind. You will be amazed. Getting started is the most difficult part. If we make an effort to work on a project that we really do care about, despite the fact that we have gone to great lengths to avoid it, miracles will happen.

I read the greatest quote the other day. I found it in an article by Kathy Coogan: "Words that aren't shared are like words unwritten. Muster up your courage and take the plunge to publication."

So, is it Wednesday yet?

I had a thought. It lingered in my mind. It expanded and it grew. Others might have gained From my insight... But they never knew. I didn't publish mine. Did you? ~Stephanie Abney