The Finish Line

There’s something about the finish line. It doesn’t matter what kind of race you have been running, seeing that line is a powerful experience. It gives you an extra boost of energy; it fills you with exhausted pride when you cross over it.

Last evening I finished a major deadline. It wasn’t a particularly stimulating project or one that filled with an immense sense of creative satisfaction. Plus, it was a rather large project. I under estimated the amount of my time and energy it would take to complete. I dragged my feet. I questioned the overall quality of my work. Still, though it was not a race I would have volunteered for it was a race I was willing to run. I’m sure I came in dead last, but I finished.

As I went to bed last night, two scriptures began to run through my head that seemed appropriate to the race I’d just finished.

“Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to [write]; but be diligent unto the end. Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; . . .” D&C 10:4-5
“ My [daughter] peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.” D&C 121:7-9

I guess one of the overall lessons I’ve learned since I started writing is that there has to be a great majority of priority and goal setting, followed up by a great deal of perseverance.
The fact of the matter is I love to write. This is my chosen profession. For me, it’s kind of like the other professional hat I wear. I’m a mother. Both occupations keep my mind filled with life, love and worry. Both have days where I wish I’d chosen a different path for myself. Yet, when it’s all said and done, at the end of the day when the children are sleeping peacefully and I’ve tucked another writing project into its envelop for shipping, I love what I do.

In fact, many writers refer to their projects as their babies. What we write spends a great deal of time very close to our hearts. Each project carries its own unique challenges and personality. Its progress consumes us; we spend a great deal of time and energy helping it “grow up” beautifully before sending it out into the world. Then, we spend a great deal of time praying that no one calls our baby ugly.

Writing makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it stretches me to the point of exhaustion, it fills me with pride. Kind of like motherhood. Now, back to work.