When Everything Isn't Coming Up Roses...

Okay, so my husband is a huge fan of sports. Football, basketball, hockey, baseball, golf, even bowling. But especially football. So a few weeks ago, he's reading this book about Vince Lombardi and we're sitting at my son's eighth grade recreational league basketball game, where they're in the race for first.

And I say, "I don't like how competitive sports are. It makes me nervous."

And he gets all giddy, and he's like, "I just read a quote on that. Here," and hands me the book.

Now, I don't read for educational purposes, but I read the passage from the Vince Lombardi book. I don't really remember what it said, but the gist was that competition makes us into men. (Or something.)

So as always, I relate this experience to my life. And right now, I'm doing the publishing thing, so that's where my mind goes.

I think we all know that just because someone has an agent, or a book deal, or whatever, doesn't mean they won't experience setbacks. Loss. Frustration. And/or disappointment.

Oh, the disappointment.

So I've had a rough couple of months, and a few weeks later, I'm sitting at the championship basketball game for my son, and they win. There's this big celebration, and parents are taking pictures, and my eyes are roaming this ghetto junior high gym, and what do I see?

A quote by Vince Lombardi:
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.

And I thought, "YES! I am exhausted on the publishing field of battle. I have been victorious in the past. Can this be my finest hour? Can I be victorious again?"

I honestly don't know. But I'm determined to "work my heart out in a good cause" and see where it takes me.

I went home, and I'm taking these:

Some of you know my daughter did a lemonade stand for Valentine's Day.
We used 6 lemons to make the 1 cup of juice needed for the lemonade. I cut, she squeezed.

And I'm trying to make this:

This is my daughter's lemonade stand. I made a simple syrup to make that pink lemonade. It was delicious! And my favorite part of her sign? The happy face. It makes me smile every time.

Because sometimes life and publishing seems to throw nothing but lemons. We may feel like we're fighting the good fight. We're exhausted on the field of battle. And there's still only lemons.

There are a thousand reasons to be sour. But by taking a simple syrup, you can make that sour into something delicious.

And that's what I'm going to do.

So. Are you making lemonade right now? Fighting the good fight? Or are you just exhausted?

Also, do you like how I went from sports, to Vince Lombardi quotes, to publishing, to lemonade? Because that was an epic chain of thought. Ha!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

You know how to finish it. Say it. Out loud. (Name that movie! LOLOLOL)

Anyway, I digress. This post is going to be a lot of digression, so I hope you're in the mood for some stream of thought writing from el@n@. That's my new name. My sister is certifiably insane. And she did some tweeting yesterday on her name (which has an i, now replaced with an !). Since I don't have an i, she said I could be el@n@. So here I am.

Anyway, Eric over at Working My Muse gave me this Lemonade Stand blog award. Thanks! I'm supposed to nominate 10 people, and send the award along. I just nominated 15 people for the Premio Dardos award, and I can't even think of 10 more. If I do, I'll post them soon, promise.

So on to lemonade. When life gets you down, what do you do? I try to surround myself with good people. Play a few games (guitar hero) and just forget about whatever is bothering me. Most of my stress is self-inflicted. Do you do this? This self-inflicted stress-inducing?

Ugh. I just get in the way of myself. I have to constantly step back and remind myself that this whole publishing thing is a journey, not a result. Sometimes I find myself frustrated because I'd like to think I'm a pretty smart person. I've worked hard through some stacked odds to get what I want.

And so this whole publishing thing is sort of hard for me. I'm used to working hard, persevering, and ultimately getting what I want. This is a little different than that.

I've decided I'm going to climb into the sidecar of a motorcycle. Remind myself that it's not the end result I'm striving for (but of course, getting published is still The Goal), but it's also the learning experiences along the way. The writerly people I get to interact with. The new novels I get to read. And write. Sometimes I think all I'm focusing on is the lemons and not the lemonade. Being the driver and not the rider. Achieving The Goal and not enjoying the How.

So a new sidecar goal to go with The Goal: enjoy the ride. I'm imagining myself in one of those sidecars on a motorcycle. I don't have to drive. I don't have to watch the speedometer, the upcoming curves in the road, the weather. I can look for those purple blossoms on trees, seagulls flying, deer in the meadow, whatever. I can enjoy the ride.

I've got my helmet on, ready for the rejections and critiques. I've got the goggles strapped in place--hopefully they'll help me see clearly who to listen to, which agents to research and query, and what to write. I've got the leather chaps, waiting to protect me if I happen to crash and burn.

I'm ready to enjoy the ride. Are you?