Well okay then! It’s already April 12th! How did that happen?

I suppose this is a good object lesson in the affects of stress on writing. 🙂 Any time we go under a major stressor, it has an impact on our creativity. This is normal. Rather than beating ourselves up about it, and I’m talking to myself here as much as to you, it’s more effective to just get moving in the direction we want to go. Recriminations don’t work, being “hard on ourselves” doesn’t work, and giving up doesn’t get us where we want to go. It’s kind of like when you’re working to lose weight and eat a giant slice of cake in the middle of it. You can either shrug and move on, or give up and eat the rest of the cake. And eating the rest of the cake isn’t going to get you where you want to go.

Which leads me to my inspiration for today’s post: jawboning.

Now, get your mind out of the gutter.

Jawboning, for those of you who don’t already know and aren’t trying to figure out if it’s an obscure sexual position, means talking – as in, spending time with a friend shooting the breeze, talking about whatever, hanging out, or whatever they call it in your part of the world. But today, I’m going to propose that the point of this conversation is this:

Pick yourself up and keep going.

Rather than complain about how you didn’t get where you wanted to, talk about how you are going to move forward today, now, with where you are. Rather than “crying over spilled milk,” and luxuriating in a good complaint session, why not try brainstorming with your friend about all the ways you could work toward your goal in baby steps?

After all, baby steps are still steps, and all forward motion is forward motion.

I’m following my own advice today, and posting for you, Dear Reader.

What’s some great advice you’ve been given on how to move forward?