Hello friends, this post has been entered into the writing
contest: You Are Enough, hosted by Positive Writer.
You are enough is a statement that carries a measure of
subjective thought. The word bifurcates in meaning mostly by connotation. What
is enough? When is there enough? When I
hear the word enough, I see my mother on a warm summer day stomp her foot and
say “Enough” as her three boys argue over some injustice. Another obvious use
that most of us can relate to occurs at the end of Thanksgiving dinner when
offered another helping of gravy and mashed potatoes, hands go up in the air
and the cry “enough!” is heard echoing through the house.
The basic idea of enough is there is no need for anything
else, enough is enough. When applied to you as a writer the small three word
phrase offers power and confidence to conquer any writing project that comes
your way. You have enough creativity,
enough imagination and enough great ideas to be a successful writer. When faced
with the daunting task of editing remember you are enough. When you hit the
wall of silence you are enough to scale it and conquer the citadel of
beginning, middle and end.
We all need a good “Let’s Go Team” once in a while, but a
good dose of reality is important as well. The reality is that life will hand
us failure and adversity. Every day of the year since the beginning of time
people have failed at task performed and life in general. Businesses go under,
buildings burn and rejection letters clog the postal system. However failure is
not the last word. There are a dozen platitudes to
emphasize the importance of never giving up. The point is “Never Give Up”.
We all know Michael Jordan as one of the best Basketball
players in the history of the game, but may not be aware that his path to glory
was not always easy. In high School he was told he was too short to play
basketball. But instead of giving up he used the negative to drive him to
greatness. He is quoted as saying, “I’ve failed over and over again in my life,
and that is why I succeed.” In his own
way he told himself that he was enough. (http://www.beliefnet.com/inspiration/galleries/9-famous-people-who-overcame-major-failure.aspx?p=4)
Dr. Seuss the well know children’s author received twenty
seven rejections for his first book before it was finally published. He is
quoted as saying, “And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed! (98 and ¾
percent guaranteed).” Dr. Seuss is no longer with us but were he alive I think
he would agree that “You are enough”.(http://www.beliefnet.com/inspiration/galleries/9-famous-people-who-overcame-major-failure.aspx?p=10)
My fellow writers, we are as different as the flurry of
snowflakes in a January storm, yet we are united by the same daunting task of
putting meaningful words on the blank page. It is time we unite and our battle
cry will be “You are enough”. Right now take a blank piece of paper and in an
act of defiance write in bold block letters, You Are Enough. Tack it on the
wall and anytime the internal critic accuses you of being a want-a-be, look at
the moto and tell yourself that you are enough to handle any task that faces
you. Personalize it and say it until you believe it, I am enough. I am enough
to build believable character. I am enough to show and limit my telling. I am
enough to write in a way that people long to read my material. Always remember
a writer writes, so write away my friends because you are enough to finish any
project you start.
A fantastic piece Cliff. I am encouraged and reassured because so long as it is called today each member of the Enough clan can write something that makes a difference. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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