I watched American Ninja Warrior recently, and it got me thinking. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING the competitors do is for a singular purpose – to push the button at the end of the course. Their whole lives seem to revolve around that singular purpose.
Therein lies my problem – my purpose has not been as singular as it should be. I’ve got three projects I am trying to tackle, a full-time job, “normal” responsibilities, a book club, a writers’ group, and a bunch of other things I just can’t even fathom. They do not all satisfy a singular purpose. The projects keep me distracted from each other – when I am writing one, I’m thinking of the other two. The job keeps a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and clothes on my back. My “normal” responsibilites keep my family together. The book club keeps me reading. The writers’ group keeps me writing… and all the “other stuff” keeps me entertained.
But it isn’t that I have to stop doing any of these things. I just have to change their purpose. Like this: The three projects are to keep me engaged while writing. The full time job is to keep me fed, clothed, and housed while writing. The book club keeps me reading books I wouldn’t normally read, exposing me to writing I wouldn’t normally read, so I can learn more about writing. The writers’ group keeps me writing…. now, if I can only figure out I can shape my “normal” responsibilities, like laundry and cooking, into a purpose full of writing….
I wonder if there is a story in that?
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