Instead of going on with the pictures or doing a film Friday today I wanted to wax a teensy bit religious, if that's alright. I mean, I think its a helpful thought generally, religious or not. At least it is for me.
Basically I just wanted to share a scripture that my sister and I were talking about. No, we don't usually talk about scriptures on our way to the scummy beach bathroom. That makes us sound really Amanda Bynes from Easy A. But it came up in correlation with what we were talking about. Maybe it's because she is going on a mission in two weeks (AH!!!) and she's basically a scripture reading fiend. Anyway.
Matthew 6:34: Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.Ok. So here's why I thought these words were so comforting. I don't think this is supporting the eat, drink and do whatever the blank you want philosophy. We still need to be productive, proactive and responsible. I do, however, think that it's saying that all the stress we feel about what tomorrow is going to bring and about meeting all these goals and expectations that we have for ourselves is totally ridiculous and unnecessary.
I think the jist of it is that if we are doing what we know we are supposed to be doing today, tomorrow will be okay. I'll even say that I believe God will take care of us. Life gets so absolutely crazy. I've read stories on some of your blogs about the crazy, extremely difficult things going on in some of your lives, and I know my life has been more unstable and insecure these past few months then it ever has, to the point that I've had to consciously stop getting too personal on this blog just to stop myself from whining. My point, though, is that if we just take care of today and do what we know we're supposed to, then life keeps going on the right track and tomorrow will be taken care of.
From a writers perspective: there are so many things that are unknown about the future. Contests, getting an agent, getting an editor, the ending of our current project, responses from the lit mags we submitted to. All that is insecure and unknown and, frankly, terrifying, but I'm learning that worrying and stressing about it doesn't do any good at all, and in fact only keeps you from doing stuff that's actually worthwhile. Take care of today. Write. Write some more. Read, study, practice. Perfect your query letter. Submit to agents or editors or literary magazines or contests. Do all that on a daily basis and there is no chance you will not have success. Tomorrow will take care of itself, and might be way awesomer than you even imagine it. Just as long as you take care of today.
Now if I can just ingrain this in my head enough to stop being scared...
Sarah Allen
6 comments:
Learning to pace yourself in life and enjoy what is can be such a challenge, Sarah. Too easy to get caught up in what we "should" be doing all the time.
Anyway, kind of glad your Internet stunk during your vacay. :) Hope you had restful and fun time.
Sarah, just keep going forward.
Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
http://www.shellysnovicewritings.blogspot.com/
A non-religious varation of that thought that I've always liked:
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
That picture was awesome and the post was very reflective. After just coming back from a vacay with ZERO internet...I agree it was probabaly a good break.
What a beautiful picture! I'm not religious, but this post was very soothing to me. Not only in my writing life, but also in my daily life, I have to remember that worrying and stressing so much is actually crippling. Thanks for this.
beautiful pic---wonderful post :)
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