Good intentions. Everyone's got them. What do we do with them? My father used to say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." He probably heard or read that statement from somewhere/some famous person, but I always attribute the phrase to my dad. I heard him say it a LOT (usually after I had failed to clean my room, wash the dishes, sweep the floor, etc.--what can I say? I am a sloth).
And let me tell you, being grounded for intending to do something and then not accomplishing it is a little like being in the pits of hell.
But being a kid who fails to follow through on a promised chore who is grounded is not the same as being an adult who intends to become, to do, to be ANYTHING and then the adult fails to follow through on her intent. The resulting hell is not filled with brimstone and fire and a man wearing a bizarre red cape who pokes you with a pitchfork.
The hell is one's own sense of worth going down the toilet. Flushed. Gone. The man with the pitchfork is really one's conscious saying "you're a failure and a loser." Ouch. Pretty big poke in the head, right?
And here's what else that dude in the cape who lives in your head says (I don't care what religion or not a person is--we all have egos and a conscious capable of creating this negativity), "You may as well not bother to intend to do anything again cause you will not succeed. Just quit before you start." Bigger blow to the psyche, right?
What is the solution? Do not INTEND to anything unless you plan to carry through your intention. You're writing a book? You want to write a book? You intend to write a book? Then write the darned book. Don't tell yourself you'll fail before your start writing or while you're writing. Regardless of your religion or lack of one, I think that's the dang man with the pitch fork talking. Really. It is. If you fail to become who you were intended to be, then that dude in the cape wins.
Now in this case, I use writing the darned book because that's what I'm geared up to do. That's my desire and my intent. I am fulfilled by the action of carrying through on my intention. The end result is a happy and satisfied ME. The rest is gravy, icing, cherries, you name it. But I have the substance. I have the full satisfaction one feels after eating a super wonderful meal that's been plated up for me to enjoy.
As long as I live the life intended for me, carry through on using my gifts and talents to the best of my ability, then I am in a place called heaven. And finding heaven on earth is a great discovery.
What's your good intention?
6 comments:
My intention today was finish putting in the changes to the manuscript and write a synopsis. I have done the former. 60,128 word count. I am so happy.
But the synopsis. Well. I'll do it. I really will. But first, I just need to eat, get groceries, read my email, look at the ceiling, make a few calls, make a chart for what I'm going to wear for conference, clean the toilet, pet the cats, iron, and cry.
I hate me a synopsis.
Jean, I am not a fan of the synopsis, either, but I did find Kira Sinclair's information about it very helpful. It's made writing them easier. I also utilized a story sketch for my most recent synopsis. I made sure I had the H/H GMCs and then the major plot points separating the 4 ACTS of my plot. That helped a lot.
But yeah, I hear ya'!
CONGRATULATIONS ON FINISHING YOUR MANUSCRIPT AND MAKING YOUR CHANGES!! Woot!
PS--email me off loop and I'll send you my info on the dreaded synopsis :-)
My good intention was to answer blogs and I've done well already. My other good intention was to write, which didn't happen, but the revision/rewriting process is a lot harder than I planned.
Lets hope tomorrow is better!
Thanks for the pep talk, Christine. I'm stalled in revisions. The editor wants me to remove my favorite scene of my story. I tried to get it past her three times. No luck. I need to just do it so I can get moving on rewriting/reworking the rest.
Hi Jen: I know what you mean about delaying the revision/rewriting. I make myself write first, then check my blogs. It's kind of a reward system for me. I turn off all my email and web surfing buttons. Another thing that helps me is switching to another room or chair when I am revising--laptop helps!
Good luck with the revisions!
:-)
Hi Wendy: Oh, I'm so sorry you have to cut a favorite scene. I've never been told to cut a scene by an editor, but this current revision is the 4th time through for plot alone. Aack. And I had to get rid of a lot of my favorite words and phrases. :-(
I bet once you cut it and move it to another folder (hey, never toss them away--words can be used again!), you'll be liberated to write the rest of the revision!!
Good luck!
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