Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Congratulations are in order
I am reading my partner's first novel. It's still in manuscript stage so this is one of those chances to see what someone has been doing before anyone else. It's been two years in the writing and she's done a great job.
She does not have an agent .....yet, and she does not have a publisher.....yet. This is a novel in it's embryonic stage of development. It's all there, meaning she has got to the end of the last chapter, but probably still work to be done, in massaging it into shape, to get it to the best possible finished condition where it represents her very best 'finished' work. Then comes more hard graft in finding an agent and publisher.
But, hang on. Let's just stop a little minute. This is truly a remarkable achievement. The amount of dedication, commitment, creativity and just damned hard work to get this far is extraordinary. A novel doesn't just happen. And yes, I have congratulated her! :-)
It will be clear that when I say I think she has really 'Done Well', it's not because she's got it published or achieved success or even because it's a great book. She has 'really done well' because she has done her best. This does not require any further achievement. It doesn't matter about anything else...it's not a qualified success dependent on publication or further acknowledgement by whoever. It's because she has 'done her best'.
In the context that I am referring to, it does not matter whether it's a very well written book or not. It doesn't matter if someone does a little painting, draws a picture, writes a short poem, casts their first fishing line, says "I am sorry" and owns up for having done wrong. If it has taken a huge amount of effort to do this thing....no matter how simple or unprofessional it may appear to others, .....they have still done well. If they have 'done their best', then the achievement is remarkable.....worthy of remark.
And we know how we feel when we have been acknowledged for trying our best? Faaaaantastic. We are fueled up to do more, to do it again to have another go. And with practice we may improve even more. But does it 'matter' if we do better next time? No, not at all. We may continue to work at it, to keep on practicing to 'do our best' but we may or may not achieve any further progress at our game or activity. But if we have applied ourselves and done the best that 'we' can, then that's great.
And if we have tried hard and done our best and got to a certain recognisable stage in the process, then we are well and truly justified in patting ourselves on the back. Do you remember to do this when you've achieved something? It's important! You feel great.
Read High Five.
So I'm turning these pages and reading what my partner has been writing for the last two years and I'm thinking.....hasn't she done really well? This is great. It's truly great as it is. And I'm so pleased for her! :-)
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