Feeling soft brushes of distant sea breezes against my face and through my hair, I am outside on my patio writing—writing to think. I’m writing to think about what I’m thinking. I’m writing to think about what I’m thinking about all the work I have to do after a few back-to-back conferences, meetings, and a business trip. On this dream-like, cloudy day in perpetually sunny Florida, this feels like a necessary exercise before I dive into really getting some things done. This is my process as I attempt to get back to the daily grind after succumbing to involuntary pressure to allow a few days to recoup from the last few weeks. The attempt was unsuccessful it seems because I’m still exhausted.
What in the world happened in the last part of August and the beginning two weeks of September? As if things were not already on ten thousand, things went to yet another level of busyness and to-do??? Geez! Am I the only one feeling this way?
How do YOU balance it all—going to the next level while maintaining what you got?
If you’ve ever owned/operated a business, I imagine you understand the ever-challenging juggling act between short-term needs and long-term goals. The to-do list vs. the to-be vision. But wait. Are we supposed to talk about that kind of stuff on social media? Isn’t it all supposed to be roses and reports on how well we’re managing it all and how all the deals are being made and money is rolling in? Cha-Ching! (Somebody say, “Highlight reel.”)
Seeing everyone’s highlight reel makes it seems like you are alone in the valley—in the come-up. But, in fact, you are not. I am not.
There is a very real in-between place. From one win to another, there is the time in between of reversion to the cave, the workroom, the studio. The invisible place where tension exists between what is and what could be—what’s trying to be…. Strategizing, hard work, training, honest review, course correction, catching up on what was out of focus…
Coasting on the winds of success is a momentary activity, leaving us open for another shake-up out of even the comfort zone success can sometimes be. The leveling out, reassessing, going back to the drawing board with what you’ve learned, and then reemerging with enough momentum for the next gust is where so much of the effort lies. ‘Cause you gotta be in the right position, going the right speed to catch that updraft, or you could miss it.
Lord, help me—and you too if you are there.
Do people talk about this in the moment? Or are we always talking about things from the mountaintop, standing like heroes, with 20/20 hindsight?
I don’t know.
If you know this place, then you may understand where I am today—where I’ve been for the last few days. I just said this, but is it not true that even success can be a comfort zone we need to be knocked out of so we can be pushed to go even higher? ‘Cause the scary truth is our potential is unlimited. There is no ceiling. There is no destination. Just a journey. And the sky is not the limit.
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If you have some time, check out my interview on In Conversation with Frank Schaeffer—something we recorded in the blitz that was the last four insane weeks. Frank and I talk about everything from how I advocate for authors of color to who I really am behind closed doors. It’s a fun and really interesting conversation. Click below to watch it now.
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Do you write to think about what you are thinking? Let me know in the comments. For me, I sometimes don’t even know what I think until I can write.