A Good Habit For Writers

Today's quote makes it sound so easy to be grateful each and every day of your writing life. Reading the words and believing the words can be two different worlds. Saying the words and knowing you should have a heart filled with gratitude isn't always easy. But, if you have the ability and the desire to be a writer, you are truly blessed and have much to be grateful for.

People give advice freely, almost flippantly at times. It's pretty simple for me to tell you what you should do to be a successful, fulfilled writer.  But taking that advice to heart can be quite difficult if you're having a run of one rejection after another. Or if your critique group has more negatives about your submissions than positives. Things like that can make you feel like a big peg being pounded into the ground with a giant mallet. Once down, it's not so easy to get up again. It's like pulling one foot after another out of a muddy field. Each step is tough!

So, how are you going to start each day with a grateful heart? Start with a list like this one:

As a writer, I'm grateful for: 

• the tools of the craft that I possess
• friends who encourage me with worthwhile critiques
• being published, no matter how often
• conferences where I can learn and grow as a writer
• story ideas that are all around me
• my writing group
• a family who supports my writing
• an editor who helps and encourages me
• the desire to write

You can probably add more to this list. Keep it somewhere that you see it every day. Maybe your bedside table would be a good spot. Read it when you wake and start your day with that grateful heart. 

I've always felt that the good things in my writing life outweigh the bad ones. Am I never disappointed and discouraged? Of course, I get frustrated and ready to give it all up now and then, but I try to count my blessings and realize they are greater than the crummy parts of this writing world.

Try starting each day with a grateful heart. Before you know it, you will have developed a habit. A very good habit! 

We're getting home from our trip tomorrow and I'm eager to get started writing again. I'll wake on Wednesday with a grateful heart--grateful that I have a story idea and can get started on it right away.