I should have expected it.
I'd been putting in long hours preparing for a big event. During it I
worked multiple fourteen-hour days. I needed a break, but I came home
primed to accomplish great things.
I plunged back into my work. Projects whose deadlines I'd had to
juggle awaited me.
I was ripe for discouragement. It came.
The email struck like a torpedo below my waterline. A big project —
one I'd nurtured and labored over — was dead. Any project entails a
risk. The higher your hopes, the more painful their demise.
I turned to a colleague, who commiserated with me. It hurts, but it
happens. You can quit or you can learn what you can and move on.
Yesterday afternoon as I grieved, I realized I couldn't afford to
nurture that grief. If I let it sprout, worse things will grow.
So today I'm back at the keyboard. I've made good progress on a
couple of pending projects, gotten yet more discouraging news, and
written this. Now I'll get back to work.
Expecting to accomplish great things? Watch out.
3 comments:
Thanks, Andy! Somehow it helps to know it happens to all of us, not just the ones "God is mad at" or those who " don't deserve success anyway, because they wouldn't know what to do with it."
Here's a smile to brighten your outlook: :)
fiddlepeg
Agreed, not a pleasant experience. I suppose we authors tend to think of our own hurts when a project gets shot down and not so much about agents' hopes and plans crashing and burning. (Sorry, I think in aviation terms more than torpedoes.)
Your conclusion is right. Once the dust settles, you can sit there and perish in the ashes, or you can dust yourself off, climb into a new cockpit, and soar to lofty heights with more experience and a different craft.
Way to go, Andy!
I always appreciate your willingness to be open and honest with your blog readers! You give us hope...mixed with a healthy dose of reality.
Post a Comment