Tag Archives: possibilities

Health, Spiritual

Consider All the Possibilities

8 Comments
lady holding sign that says possibilities
Consider All the Possibilities.
Thank you, Monstera and Pixels.com for allowing me to use this image!

“Consider All the Possibilities” by Joan Y. Edwards

Many times you might put yourself in a box. You may think you can’t get out. But that time has gone. You can get out of that box.
An elephant trainer tied him with a heavy chain to an immovable steel stake. He couldn’t leave the area. There was only a circle of destinations he could reach. After a certain amount of time, the trainer removed the stake. The elephant thought he was still trapped by the stake.
When I took care of my Mother for 14 years, it got where I couldn’t go places or do things I usually did unless I had someone come in to watch her. Like the elephant, I had a stake and rope keeping me from going places.
These imaginary yet real ropes and stakes keep you from doing what you want.
Covid sort of acts like a stake for many of us. We don’t go here or we choose not to go there based on Covid or other beliefs totally unrelated to illness. Personal Note: Covid, The Flu, and Other illnesses seem to be prevalent. Find a way to interact with more people safely. Wear a mask. Wearing a mask is helpful. Do what makes you comfortable. Protect yourself and your loved ones.

Today I would like for you to consider the possibilities for all the things you planned to do but didn’t. All the things you thought you could do, but haven’t. Perhaps there is a change you could make in your mind and in actuality to make it come true.

There are limitless possibilities. Sometimes we limit ourselves because of past experiences.
There are several categories:
1. Spiritual
2. Personal
3. Home
4. Finance
5. Your Choice
You choose an area that’s causing you distress. Write down your beliefs. If you’ve had a goal and haven’t reached it, there may be negative statements hidden that are acting for us like the chain and steel stake. They keep us from pursuing our goals. They keep us stuck.
I believe I can’t get another job.
I can’t get a book published.
I can’t save enough money.
I can’t get married.
I won’t list more. You get the idea. I’m sure there are a few resting in your brain.
Pull out that stake that’s holding you back. Pull off the chain personal experience may have attached to you. It is time to go through a time to renew yourself.
Any time a voice (yours or someone else’s) says something negative about you. Say the opposite. Say the good thing about yourself.
List 10 things you’d like to do but you haven’t been able to do it yet.
Say aloud:
Walk: I can and do walk.
Take a Trip: I can and take a trip to _______.
Call Old Friends: I can and do call old friends once a week.
Take Time to Pray: I can and do take time to pray each day.
Have Enough Money/Abundance of Money: I have enough money to do what I want and need to accomplish. I have enough and more…that’s an abundance of money so I can share with those less fortunate.
Save Money: I save money in high-paying savings or money market account. If you get a tax refund, put that money in a money market account. Usually money market has a higher interest than savings accounts. Don’t take it out unless you are using it for house repairs or new appliances.
Learn new skills: I can and do learn new skills with __________.
Reward: I reward and celebrate myself when I accomplish small things and big things. Celebrating the small steps helps you get to the big steps of accomplishments.
You decide and add to your list. Food for thought. Food to feed your inspiration.
I learned the hard way when I was a teenager. I used to put money in a savings account. However, I took the money out in the next few weeks. That defeated the purpose of my savings account.  If you can do it, spend only the amount of interest you make each year.  Now I use my savings/money market only for house repairs or new appliances.

Remember to think in and consider all the wonderful possibilities!

Personal Note:
I closed the shop on my website. Thank you to all who bought the books from me. You honored me. The shop stopped working properly. It didn’t automatically make the books available to those who purchased it. They had to contact me and let me know. I was able to email them their puzzle book(s). I couldn’t fix the program. Therefore, I deleted it and closed it down. I will announce how you can purchase the puzzle books soon.

Please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. What do you do to empower yourself?

Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards, Author
Copyright © 2009-2022 Joan Y. Edwards

Subscribe to Joan’s blog for new articles of inspiration, information, and humor. Receive free gifts. Join over 265 subscribers and over 1, 790,000 visitors. Thank you.

Writing

A Critique Is a Gift – It Contains Choices and Possibilities

20 Comments

“A Critique Is a Gift-It Contains Choices and Possibilities” by Joan Y. Edwards

A critique is a gift. It contains choices and possibilities for you to consider. Not – YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THIS AND DO THIS OR ELSE your story will not survive. Use your critiques to empower you to improve your manuscript and take it to a higher level.

Sometimes you don’t ask the person who critiques your work enough questions. If you can get them to interact with you back and forth after the critique, it would be helpful. You as a writer are brave. Ask questions. Many times you are lucky to have gotten the critique and there’s no way of communicating with that person again. Having the right thoughts going through your mind when you’re reading your critique will help you accept it as the gift it is and use it to your advantage.

Don’t be afraid of what a critique says. You’re afraid probably because you’ve received countless rejections. Hundreds of rejections that stack up from the floor to the ceiling. This may cause you to doubt yourself as a writer. You may believe rejection means you are not a good writer. Actually, rejection doesn’t mean anything about your writing except that the person reading it didn’t have a passion for what you wrote like you do. It didn’t “call” them.”

I challenge you to change your thinking. Accept in your mind that it’s all right if they like it. And it’s all right if they don’t like it. Once you get to that point, you’re able to really listen to what they are saying. As long as you like your story and believe it will be published, and you’ve visualized it in its final form with cover and binding and people purchasing it. You’ll see that a critique is either your pathway to growth or the pathway to giving up. It’s your choice.

There is another very real possibility. It could be that the person who critiqued your work likes your work and is trying to help you make it better. Or they missed part of your plan for your story. They don’t understand parts of your plot. If possible, ask them questions.

Ask questions. Suppose 3 different people tell you to start at three different places in your story.

If someone tells you that you’re starting your story at the wrong place, ask them to tell you more.

  1. Where do you think it should start and why?
  2. Why do you think I wrote this story? What did you learn from it?
  3. Is there a better place to start the story? What is it? Why?
  4. Is the emotion missing?
  5. Do I give action, reaction, and dialogue for each scene?
  6. Give me possible what ifs for my story.
  • What if your main character did this?
  • What if the setting was in a different place, like _______.
  • If such and such happened, what would be the new set of chain reactions for the main character? If the main character does this, then the villain would do what?
  • What if the main character’s problem was even more difficult, steeper, harder for him to handle, like ______________?

Before you use any of the information in a critique, make sure you agree 100 per cent with any changes you make. Make those changes you agree with as quickly as you can. Send it out. Submit it again.

If there are parts of the critique you don’t agree with, you have two choices – delete them and never think about them again or let the manuscript hibernate in a drawer or in a folder in your computer for 1-4 weeks-no longer than that. Then take it out and read the critique again. Read your manuscript again with new eyes. Pretend this is the first time you’ve ever read it. Pretend you’re a potential buyer of your book in a store. You open it up to the first page. You read it. What do you think? If you still are not 100 per cent sure you want to use the questionable advice in this critique. Let it go. Delete it. Say a prayer. Relax. Believe in your manuscript. It will be published. You will know the changes to make. Studying the craft books that are in this area will help. Trust yourself and your story.

Accept in your mind that your beginning might be the best or another beginning might be best. Either is okay with you in your mind. Now allow yourself to choose the right place to start your story. You are the writer of this story. Believe that you can choose the right place. Other people’s opinions are possibilities. Other people’s opinions are choices. They are not facts. They are opinions. They give you something you never thought about. They give you possibilities. What a gift! Rejoice! Remember it’s your choice, your story. Believe that these critiques are not going to stop you from reaching your goal. They are steps to make your story better. To get it in top-notch shape for publication.

Be happy and rejoice with every critique you receive. Delete any ideas and suggestions that you don’t agree with 100 per cent after you’ve studied it and given good consideration of the possibilities given. It’s your story. You are the author. You will decide great things for your story. Now revise your manuscript with high energy and a good feeling and thankfulness for the critique.

Summarizing above:

Receive the critique.

Use what you agree with 100 per cent right away. Change the manuscript and submit again.

Put the questionable advice and the manuscript in a drawer. Wait from 1-4 weeks. Then read the critique and the manuscript again with new eyes. Make a decision. Use the advice or delete it. Then go forward.

Believe in your manuscript. Believe in you and your story.

Do something fun to celebrate you today!
Never Give Up

Joan Y. Edwards