As I write my first article for 2015, I feel a sense of accomplishment
because it has been over a year since I composed my thoughts. For several
months now, I have been contemplating if I should start writing again, however
I have been giving myself excuses after excuses
“Oh I’m too busy with my boys.”
“Oh my family is keeping me too occupied, so I don’t have
time to write.”
“Oh I will start writing tomorrow when I find time.”
“Oh when the time is right, I will start writing again.”
With all these excuses I still find myself on my social
media platforms, reading, engaging and consuming in materials that do not add
value to my life or my purpose.
Hence the other night, while I was conversing with a friend,
he asked me, “Why did you stop writing?” I wondered why he was asking such an
off the topic question (I was definitely not ready to this conversation). He
said, “I loved reading your write ups; it had inspired me and others in the
past. So why did you relinquish the very thing that makes you who you are.” I
replied, “But wait I’m not a quitter, I just can’t find time to write anymore.”
He pulsed and said, “But you have time to talk on the phone, use Instagram and Facebook
right? If you have time to do all these
“important” things then you are not too busy to dedicate sometime for your
passion”.
Boom!! There it was; he switched on the light bulb inside my
head.
I started to analyze our conversation after we hung up the
phone and his questions kept lingering in my head.
I started to question myself. “Am I really a quitter? What
does the word quitter mean? Quitter means loser right? I’m not a loser; cafter
all I still got a lot accomplished this past year right?”
While processing everything and trying to reason with myself,
I saw my two and half year old son throwing his soccer ball over my head; in attempt
to hit the Christmas and birthday card decorations above the fireplace. At that
moment, I made the decision not to yell out the usual ‘DANIEL STOP’. I observed him for about three minutes trying
to get the cards down through his little tactics. After many attempts, his
plans did not succeed. He proceeded with plan b in hopes to achieve his ultimate
goal. He picked up one of his long toy and placed it on the side of the TV
stand, which is about 20 inches way from the fireplace. At that moment, I was
wondering what else he was really trying to attempt. He skillfully climbed on top
of the TV stand and sat close to the edge of the stand, allowing himself to get
closer to the fireplace. He picked up his long toy, stretched his right arm and
started to bring all the cards down. After he completed his goal, he slowly got
down from the stand and started laughing and jumping. He looked at me with a
smirk on his face to see if I was going to speak out about his victory. Surely
it was a huge accomplishment for him after trying many times. However, I
still kept quiet to observe what his next move would be; he proceeded to pick
up some of the cards to tear them up. But, of course I got up and stopped him
from destroying my cards.
A moment after, I sat down to marinate on Daniel’s little performance.
It was definitely a learning experience for me. Never to give up and never give
excuses because there is always a way when one path seems impossible.
I started writing poems in my dollar store journals in grade
7. Throughout my high school years, I turned every circumstance in my daily
life as a writing piece to express myself. I remember in grade 11, my English
teacher told us to select any topic and write an essay on. I chose to write
about “love” when I had little experience in relationship. When I turned in my
paper, I thought I did awful because I didn’t believe in myself as a
writer. I recall being the last student
to receive back my essay but I was extremely shocked to see the letter A on my paper.
While I was puzzled about my mark, my teacher very impressed; she confidently encouraged
me to continue writing. Before I left her class, she asked my permission to keep
my paper and use it as an example for her future student. At that moment, my perception
about my passion to write confidently changed.
As I sit here to write this piece, I feel extremely awesome
because one of my 2015 goals was to start writing again. If you are reading
this article, I trust you have outlined your goals for this year. Please
believe in yourself that you are a winner and don’t quit until you achieve your
goals. Stop given excuses; make time for your passion.
Because, if you can reply to text messages, pick up a phone
call, Facebook, Instagram and have time to read this
piece, you definitely have time to work on your goals. Don’t procrastinate; get
started on that project, career, school or business you wanted to start, because
time does not wait for anyone. Wasted time cannot be retrieved, therefore maximize
the little free time you have. Capture your dreams in real time and increment value to your purpose. Make the time and make it count!
Express and reflect on your world**
Sincerely
Priscilla Birago
