Trish Wooldridge & Christy Tohara

I just finished writing the article for Christy's & my newsletter. In it, I referenced one of my favorite lessons - one that most of us should remember.

I apply it to writing and life, but it originates in a horse clinic done by Karen Scholl at the West Springfield, MA Equine Affaire.

You get do-overs.

Life really sucks sometimes. Family members get sick, friends have crises, organizations and causes need your support, YOU get sick, you feel overwhelmed, a company has not paid you all year and you're debating sending them a letter demanding your $3000+ dollars, you want to just stay in bed...

And sometimes this goes on, one thing after another, for a long time.

I fell of my own blog, dropped the ball on some fundraising, and have hardly written any fiction save stuff I'm working with other people on - because I feel accountable to these friends and colleagues. But, even stuff I feel accountable for, like critiques and aforementioned fundraising, well, some of that fell by the wayside too.

What is there for me to do?

All I can do is start over.

It sounds so easy, but it's not. It feels like a lot; I feel ashamed for not being superwoman. Not only that, I can rationalize and say, "Well, look what I did do! I certainly haven't been doing nothing!"

Perhaps I do need to reprioritize and remember I'm not in college anymore; I may be getting old.

Perhaps my do-over must start with giving myself a manageable work load.

But right now, right now, I need to start over and get a LOT of things done.

Being paralyzed and flustered by my failure isn't getting me anywhere.

I have to start over. I am ALLOWED to start over. I CAN start over.

And next month, when I've done everything I can and pulled through, and the month after that... and probably around mid-September, when I don't have a calendar bursting at the seems and am probably recuperating from working myself sick once more, I can start over again.

And, when I start over, I am wiser from my experience that caused me to start over; I can take my lessons and start over even better. Until I get it right and don't need to start over again.

At least for a little while.

This option is open for anyone. Give yourself permission to start over, and do so.