So simple, yet I can make it so complicated. I don’t just do this with writing, I do it with any “dare to dream” venture that comes into my head. The moment I think “I can do this,” that negative voice will start to argue. I have to remember that is the same voice that chirped things like, “you are not an athlete. You can’t run,” while I struggled to finish my first marathon. I finished anyway.
I wanted to run, so I ran. I actually sort of meandered my way to the finish line- but I finished. When I think, “I want to be a writer,” I could always just remind myself that I already am a writer. If I can convince myself, while I am taking a lengthy walk break that I am a runner, I can certainly trust the inner voice that tells me I am a writer. We are all writers and runners, if we say we are. We will not all win a Peabody, nor will we all qualify for the Boston Marathon.
If my only point in doing anything is proving I am the best, I might not start anything. All I have to be is the best me. I am the best runner I can be. I am the best writer I can be. At then end of the day- at the end of my life- I want to know I was the best me I could be.
Doubt is really the voice of laziness. It is the voice that says “don’t bother”, because the energy required to start seems so impossible to muster. I have a meditation book called “Start Where You Are”. That title always sort of irritated me. Anything that I can make terrifyingly complicated merely because it is profoundly simple is irritating to me. Now, I think I get it. If I start with “I am”, instead of “I want to be”, my odds of just doing whatever “it” is are much higher.
Be what you want to be- I mean that quite literally. Decide what you are and be that. Be the best whatever-it-is you can be. Do not worry about how anyone else is doing it. Just be your best.
So, here I am… writing. I am a writer.
Love Your Life 
You ARE a writer. I am also a writer. Sometimes I write for hours on end. Sometimes I write nothing. But I always start with something that won’t get out of my head until I write it. It works.
One of my favorite books is by Barbara Sher entitled, “It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now,” which is something I absolutely believe. I hesitate to begin as I am looking at the end of things instead of being right where I am. So write on, sister, write on…….
Here I am wondering what you were doing since your days at ABC12. Well here I find you running your own web page. You are really missed on the air, Its just not the same.
Thank you, Ray. I miss being there. It was their choice, not mine. 😦
I very much enjoy your writings. You have a gift, please keep giving it to those of us who need good inspiration.
Thank you, Elaine.