I crashed onto the ground, wincing as the cold ice cut my skin. I lay there, blinking angrily up at the florescent lights. It seemed as though they laughed merrily at my failure.
I heard my father skate over, sighing as he looked down at me.
"I fell." I grumbled. "Again."
"So get back up." He laughed.
I shook my head stubbornly, looking away at the colorful advertisements on the bordering walls.
Daddy grunted as he got down beside me. "Look at me, Lydia."
I crossed my arms angrily.
"Lydia..." He said warningly.
I heaved a weary sigh and met his gaze.
"It's good to fall." He stated simply.
"No."
"Yes. You know why?"
"Why?"
"If you never fell, sweetheart, you would never learn. So get back up again. Learn from your mistakes. And most importantly? Never give up."
relief. Not that it's okay to just run around making terrible decisions and being like "No, it's totes fine. Lydia gave me permission." But to realize that hey, as long as you get back up again and learn, it was a necessary step into becoming the person God created you to be.
This belief has applied to many aspects of my life, but most recently, it has applied to writing. When you're a writer, when you're naturally just an extremely driven person, and all you want is for your stories to touch people, it's easy to get discouraged. Sometimes, I catch myself thinking that oh so poisonous thought, "My work isn't good enough. I'm not good enough." Simply because I haven't figured out that magical marketing key that enables one to reach the world.
This is the part of story where I have had to learn to allow myself to fall. That as much as I want to reach the world, as much as I want to jump, that may not be God's plan for me. This isn't to say I want to give up because like my daddy said all those years ago, "never give up". It's just to say that if you're feeling discouraged, like you've fallen, that's okay. That just means you're learning.
Just don't forget to rise and try again.
Don't forget that whatever you are trying to accomplish is worth it.
You're worth it.
Until next time...