It has been another incredible week, in another fabulous month, in what has been an amazing start to 2019, after a 2018 that was better than I dared to hope at the beginning.
I almost lost sight of that this week.
I made the mistake of looking at a few comments when one of my essays was shared on a page with over 2 million followers. I should never read the comments. I know this. Even when there are several wonderful, lovely, supportive comments, just one negative remark will be what takes root in my mind. In this case, there were more negative comments than positive ones (at least in the first few scrolls, before I stopped myself).
On top of that, I have been feeling guilty, flaky, and like a failure for not working on writing one of my books. And, I received another rejection (there are rejections every week), this one for a poetry submission.
It is easy for me to get caught up in the rejections, to dwell on my failures and short-comings.
But, what I need to remember is, while I have missed the mark on many of my goals (especially with my book-writing aspirations), that doesn't diminish the things that I have achieved.
Just as I give more weight to negative comments, I also tend to downplay my successes – I was lucky, fortunate. While that is true, these things didn't just fall into my lap. I worked hard to make them happen. I have weathered every negative comment, stayed afloat in a sea of rejections, and I continue to work hard, reaching for that next success.
So, I am going to allow myself a moment to feel proud.
This week I became a new contributor to two more sites: Sammiches & Psych Meds and Thought Catalog! I can remember looking at fellow writers' collections of contributor badges, when I was first starting out, and feeling like I'd never be that successful. My collection is now just as extensive. If you are a new writer happening upon my page, please know that you can, absolutely, do it, too. It just takes time – and a lot of queries.
I also had other essays syndicated this week on The Good Men Project and TODAY Parents.
In April, alone, I had two new essays published and ten syndications across eight different sites.
Of that – and everything I've accomplished so far – I am proud.
