Commit to Yourself

Committing one’s self to writing is not an easy task. I decided when I graduated from university with a degree in English and Creative Writing, I could not settle for a job that did not include writing on some scale. What I wanted more than anything else was to write full time, preferably fiction and creative nonfiction. It’s been just under three years since I finished my degree, and though it hasn’t been easy, I have spent the majority of the last three years writing freelance for different companies.

All too often, however, I’ve let this level of writing interfere with my desire to write what I want. At the end of a long day spent pumping out freelance articles, I sometimes don’t feel much like writing fiction. This morning while running errands, I realized that I needed to change my approach to this. Yes, writing freelance isn’t always fun. I often have to write articles about subjects I could truly care less about, and the work can be tedious and exhausting. It’s no wonder at the end of a work day I don’t feel much like working on my fiction. Then I thought about people who want to write full time, but have to commit to non-writing day jobs. Those people still find and make time to do what matters to them. Why shouldn’t I?

The thing is, in order to have the life I know I deserve, I need to commit more time to what actually matters to me. It’s the only way, and I know that. I find that I constantly remind myself that as far as I know, I only live once. Even if things like reincarnation and the afterlife do come into play, they have nothing to do with the life I live now. So that means taking my life into my hands to the best of my ability and doing whatever it takes to get things done.

While I am certainly no expert about life or living it, I do recommend that the next time you put off doing something you love or want to do because you’re exhausted from work, think about the people who put in whatever time they could find to succeed. Off the top of my head, I think of J.K. Rowling. Rowling started out writing with a pad and pen in a coffee shop while her infant slept. Anyone who’s ever had a baby can tell you infant’s don’t sleep peacefully for long enough to get much of anything done at all. Nevertheless, Rowling committed to her story, and look at her today. She is one of the most successful and well-known storytellers of our time. All because she committed to herself and the realization of her dream.

So, from the banks of my peaceful and perfect vacation, I ask you all to take a moment today to think about what you really want in life. Then ask yourself what you did today to try and get a step closer to that dream.

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