You are your greatest asset. I love that quote, courtesy of Logan Marshall's article for Write to Done: Unmissable Articles on Writing entitled "Instant Flow: How to Train Yourself to Think Creatively." Here's the link:
http://writetodone.com/2012/04/10/instant-flow-how-to-train-yourself-to-think-creatively/
All the wonderful things I love about Logan's article include:
- Notice the word "train" in the title? Yes, authors should train like an athlete. Our mind, body and soul are connected. We need to see to the health of all to be fully in creative mode. Plus haven't you heard the definition of stress/worry as putting your mind and your heart at war? Internal peace is when our mind, body and soul are in agreement.
- My new mantra is: I am my greatest asset. We should never lose sight of that fact. Check the Bible: we are fearfully and wonderfully made in the very image of God. Check with any scientist: we are the greatest machine ever created. We are worth billions when you break us down to our individual parts; just the minerals in our body alone make us priceless.
- I would alter his first two steps, running and meditation, to fit my personal lifestyle and comfort level. It would become fast walking and prayerful introspection. Just my own take on his wise words.
- His point three: Eat clean, healthy foods. Amen. Let our food be our medicine and medicine our food. I believe foods as God made them trumps anything man-made every time. I'd go fully organic if I could. In the meantime, I eat from the perimeter of the grocery story, where foods don't have "Ingredients" lists with multiple entries and mostly chemical-sounding names. A banana is a banana. I buy beef roasts, whole chickens, eggs, bacon, strawberries, roma tomatoes, avocados, etc.
- His point four: Super hydrate. The first symptom of dehydration is sometimes confused as hunger. You are really down a quart when you have a dry mouth and are craving water. If you've gone so far as to have a sick-to-your-stomach feeling, you are one step away from a ride in an emergency vehicle. I once had an ND tell me to drink reverse osmosis water. I choose for me, personally, to go with spring water--naturally from the earth as God intended, complete with minerals. Remember the therapeutic value of soaking in a natural hot spring? Because of all the body-healing minerals it contains? I think drinking the cooled equivalent does a body good, IMO. In the two to three years since I've been going this route, my normally freckled skin is much less so. Nice!
- His point five: Get enough sleep. I so agree. For decades I awoke by a dreaded alarm clock. Hated it. And for decades wasn't getting what my body wanted--eight full hours of sleep.
The only item I would add to his great plan is to go to bed each night thinking about the most efficient and productive and goal-rendering use of your time for tomorrow. What two things do I really need to tend to? Wait for the response. If you have any snags still pending and thwarting you, ask God for the answer while you sleep. It works for me.
I'm one of those authors who ponders my new novel in my head for a length of time. It could be two days. It could be over two months. It could be remembering an idea I had in my twenties, wrote into a short story back then and have since lost, but the concept resurfaced. Maybe I'm to write it now.
So my before-bed activity of planning and seeking is a no-brainer for me.
It is said that all our answers are within. Any wisdom we may need resides inside us.
There's an old myth told about the gods wanting to hide treasure from God's favorites, his people. After all, God favors us to his angels, to his animals, to everything else He created. So the gods sought for a place to hide away this source from God's pet humans.
"In the sky?" one suggested.
"No they will go to the moon and beyond and will find it," another explained. "How about in the sea?"
"No, their curiosity will have them delving deep into the waters," a third countered.
"What about burying it in the mountains?" a fourth proposed.
"The gold and silver will lure them there," a fifth argued.
There was a long pause as the little gods pondered this.
Finally one spoke up. "What if we hide it within them--in their heart, their soul, their minds?"
One by one, the other false gods nodded.
"Done," they agreed unanimously.
Worth a bit of time to check it out, huh?
Good luck, athletes!
And don't forget: YOU ARE YOUR GREATEST ASSET.
