From Obstacles to Accomplishments

Welcome back to Taylor Talks!

​Well here I am, after 11:00 at night, staring at the same blank page that I've been staring at for hours. I believe I wanted to write this post around 6:00pm, but five hours later I still don't know what I'm writing about tonight.

Have you ever faced a school paper that you couldn't write? Or didn't know what to say in a letter to someone? It's so easy to get caught up in how amazing you want something to be, that you can't say anything at all. You want whatever you write to be the greatest thing you've ever written, whether it's a song, a poem, or a blog post. You want your writing to be worthwhile, something that will make people feel good about taking the time to read. And sometimes you just fold under the pressure.

I've heard it said that the best way to start something is to just do it. Don't think about it, just begin. Well I've done just that. I've turned my difficulty in coming up with a topic for tonight's post into the actual topic. It sounds pretty ridiculous when I put it like that, doesn't it? But by writing about basically nothing, my creativity has started flowing again, and I suddenly find myself coming up with a topic to begin writing about.

So why leave all of that nonsense in? I can picture you readers sitting there at your computers, your phones, or your tablets, staring at my writing and wondering why I wouldn't simply start over after coming up with a topic. Edit and revise, right? Only put out your best work... That's very true, and I could have just deleted all of that nonsense that I started writing once I figured out what I wanted to say tonight. But the truth is that I'm leaving it in for a reason. It's difficult to write a blog, no less publish a post on a daily basis. No one is forcing me to post every night, or paying me to come up with good ideas. I'm doing this of my own free will, simply because I want to have a project to which I am committed. I don't want to give up when it gets difficult. Heck, if I wanted to do that, I would have stopped posting way back in week 2 of my blog. No, I'm leaving all of this mumbo jumbo in my post tonight because I want people to see that it's okay to mess up or have no idea what you're doing sometimes.

That actually brings me to my topic for tonight. I worked really hard on my novel all day, and by dinnertime I was worn out. I needed a break from looking at my characters and thinking about plot. So I put on Netflix, brought up a movie that I had seen before so I wouldn't have to concentrate so much, and I sat back to relax. That movie was "Legally Blonde," which I'm sure many people have seen before. After it was over, I put on the sequel, which I had never watched prior to tonight. Between both of those movies, I think there's a very valuable lesson being taught, which I have found myself learning recently. It's all about believing in yourself, and proving to yourself that you can accomplish anything that you set your mind to. [Spoiler alert:] The movies' main character, Elle Woods, goes from a sorority party girl to an accomplished lawyer. She doubts herself along the way, but when she finds the courage to believe in what she's doing, she ends up going farther than anyone thought she could.

I feel like that's what has been happening with me, not just with this blog, but with my novel too. Sometimes I wonder why I'm still blogging on a daily basis when it becomes so difficult to find a reason to write. Sometimes I wonder why I'm still writing this book if I get writer's block for such long periods of time. Will anyone ever see my work? Will I become a published author? I would absolutely love to become an accomplished author with multiple books published. I would love to inspire foster families, or adoptive parents, with my writing about my experiences through this blog. But even if no one read my posts, or my book never became published, I would still write. I'm doing it because I believe in myself, and I believe that I can accomplish something wonderful. I'm blogging because I know that I can keep up the hard work and stick with a project for more than just a year or so. I'm finishing this book so that I can say, "Hey! I wrote a book!" even if the only people who ever read it are my parents.

This blog post may not have made much sense in the beginning, but I hope by now you're realizing what my message is. Believe in yourself. Believe that you can accomplish something great. Believe that even when things become difficult, and you think about turning back, that you're on your journey for a reason and you should follow through with whatever it is that you're working on.

If you are trying to accomplish something amazing, I would love to hear about it in the comments below. Big or small, we all have obstacles to overcome every day, and I wish you the best of luck on whatever project you're trying to tackle this week.

Thank you so much for your continued support! I look forward to sharing more stories about my experience with foster care, and hopefully hearing from readers who have questions or similar stories to share. I'm always willing to answer questions and hear about other experiences! Please don't forget to like and share my Facebook author page as well!

I’d greatly appreciate it if you would share this blog with friends and family through your favorite social media sites. If you’re sharing on Twitter, don’t forget to tag me (@TayTayK02) and use the hashtag #TaylorTalks.

Thanks!
Taylor

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