Just Do It

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action." ~Frank Tibolt

Author, Linda Ford posted a message awhile back in the RWA Online Forum where she puzzled over the resistance she experienced every time she sat down to write. I can pull up page after page in my own journal where I shook my own mental fist at the universe and asked the same thing.

A friend had phoned a couple of months ago, puzzling over her own resistance, this in relation to working out at the gym. She thrives on exercising, so why does she procrastinate and avoid an activity she loves? She hoped I would provide some magic answer and all I could tell her was this. Don’t think about it. Just do it.

It sounds too simple. Too flippant. Yet, Linda herself summed it up with an illuminating insight: “What made me slip into considering the activity rather than doing it?”

“A warrior lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting.” –Carlos Castaneda

What I realized as I began this essay is this. For all the tasks we face, whether they be pleasurable or onerous, there’s always one distinction. Do we have a choice? When we don’t, we can’t allow ourselves the luxury to think about it. We know we have to just do it. Now, this doesn’t stop the cycle of resistance! If it were that easy, there would be no missed deadlines. *rueful grin* It does, however, provide a clue as to the process. Since we CAN choose, we stop and think. People who perform heroic acts would probably all agree, had they stopped to think about it, they probably wouldn’t have had the courage. Or the strength. Or the extra push needed to succeed.

Just Do It.

“You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.” –Henry Ford

Years ago, a good friend of mine told me why he loved to ski. “When you’re up on that snowy mountain, you can’t stop and think about everything. You just do it.”

Huh.

There it is again.

Linda’s post prompted much thought on my part. A contemplation about both resistance and the choice to resist. In all areas of my life. Even in the mental phrasing of what I’m doing.

Do I say to myself, “Today I HAVE to write. Today I HAVE to edit this many pages.”

Or do I just say, “Today I write. Today I edit this many pages.”

Hmm… Food for thought.

“It is always your next move.” --Napoleon Hill

Just Do It.

How can it still be winter? *grin* Spring is almost upon us and here we are at the crux of change. It is up to us to choose which direction to take each day. Should we consider whether or not to write or simply write? What is our choice?

Consider this…

Whatever we want to accomplish, we can. Whatever we choose to accomplish, we will. Whatever we want to be, we are.

We Are Writers. And what do writers do?

We Write! So… Just Do It! *grin*

Here's to a solid week of productivity. Write-write-WRITE! Go-go-GO!!

Smiles to you,

Chiron O'Keefe

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