The winning is in the WoRk...

Over the last 12 months, I've tried to find creative ways to juggle a full time job, trans-continental parenting of grown humans, coaxing my introverted soul into a more social way of life, and oh, by the way promoting my first novel and building back a life coaching business that's fallen by the wayside.  All the good intentions in the world, I've discovered, don't get anything done. 

If you have a creative streak - whether it comes in spurts, or hums along inside your brain on a daily basis, then you know how challenging life can be when you get that magical inspiration for a painting, a poem or even that throw pillow you have suddenly designed in your head,  and oh, wait, you have to go to work and earn your daily bread.  Damn.  The whole thing, I'll admit- was getting in the way.  I had goals dammit! I'd made them public!  I was taking a course to make me better at this and now I was failing wildly in front of people I'd come to admire, respect and yes, I'll admit it, ENVY for their seeming ability to always 'get er done'.  Crap. 

But slowly, I've realised through that group, and some wise words from a wise coach, that sometimes the end game isn't where we need to focus. That imaginary 'finish line' we set for ourselves, is often the biggest distraction we face.  We focus on it like it's the only way we can succeed. But it's an illusion.

​What  We NEED to focus on, is the WORK.  The work of creation, of ideation, of thinking through.  And sometimes, to get it right, we need to do it over, and over, and even over again.  The winning - the achieving of the elusive and much sought after goal - doesn't always arrive in one dazzling moment of 'Ta-Daaaaa'.  More often, it comes in moments.  Moments carved out of the madness that reveal a design solution, a phrase that sparkles, or an idea that sings out what you'd been searching for all along.

And what we learn along the way is so much more than what we get out of a quick sprint and a flashy finish.  As we work, as we struggle, even as we FAIL- we go deep, and wide and our experience grows, our confidence builds, and we suddenly understand that there is no ' THERE'.  There is just the work that we love, and the winning is in those we touch with it.   So keep on ' keeping on' my loves, keep working, keep loving and you will always, always, be WINNING.  <3