November Blog Challenge - Nothing is wasted
When I was writing my book, I worked with a coach and an editor who would say to me - don’t delete anything you write - if you don’t want to include it just file it away somewhere. Nothing is wasted. Sometimes it was a whole chapter that didn’t feel like it fit, sometimes it was a paragraph or a topic that I started that I lost the flow of halfway through. Sometimes it was the random ideas that popped up as I was writing something else (and that weren’t so random in the end!) It seemed like strange advice at first, and it was hard to follow - being the perfectionist that I was, I hated the idea of leaving this imperfect paragraph or chapter out there, and often fear that the story was irrelevant or that no-one would care, or frustration with myself caused me to want to hit delete and start again. But I trusted her, and whenever I felt that way, I would copy and paste it into another document that I kept for those “loose ends”.
Little did I know that this would be a much bigger lesson for me as time went on. The truth is - I have found that not only is no writing wasted, but no error or effort is wasted either. The “mistakes” I made in that first book taught me valuable lessons as I have gone on to do more writing. The fears that I experienced and pushed through taught me that I could choose whether to listen to the voice in my head that was trying to discourage me, or to keep writing anyway. Finishing the book taught me that I can finish a book - something that I hadn’t known about myself, but once I discovered it, it unlocked the door to further books, more ideas, and the confidence in my own ability to complete a project on that scale. Publishing the book taught me that I wouldn’t die when from being vulnerable and putting myself out there. And getting feedback taught me that sometimes just giving myself permission to put it all out there gives others permission to do the same. All of the emotions that I experienced on this journey taught me that I can do hard things and still be ok. It taught me to use my resources - which included friends, fellow authors and my own strength and resilience, some of which I didn’t even realize I had.
Sometimes when we make mistakes, we feel as if we have wasted time or energy going down a path that has not proven to take us to the place we want to go. But nothing is wasted - no mistake, no fear, no heartbreak, no disappointment. And once I realized that, I have been able to see so clearly the little lessons that I learned as a result of taking those actions. And in fact, that is why I write this blog and my life lessons in the first place. Because in the end I have found that while I would prefer for things to be right the first time, I have learned and grown so much from the mistakes that I made, and from the steps that I have taken - that it has made it all worthwhile.
Nothing has been wasted.
What mistake have you made in the past that you now see a valuable lesson from? Tell me in the comments!
And I send you big love from a small island!