Getting The Snail To The Ark

One of my mantras is a quote from Charles Spurgeon: "Perseverance is what got the snail to the ark." It's a great motivator, right up there with, "The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time."

And it's so true. Years ago, I read a book (can't remember the title) about getting organized in a week or ten days. As a hopelessly recovering disorganized person, I am drawn to books like that, and this one was no different. It talked about your priorities and your dreams, and it said something magical that stuck with me: do one thing toward your dream each and every day, and your dream can't help but come true.

The first dream I had was my house, and I'd been holding onto that dream when I started reading the book on organization. I put that book down, and I called an architect. In the weeks that followed, my dh and I went shopping for land. A year or so later, we wound up not building the house we originally had planned, instead moving an old house that we got for a bargain. But if I hadn't been prepared, that opportunity would have slipped away.

The second dream I had was for my daughter. We adopted her from China, and it involved a long, long process. But I did one thing each and every day. It might have been something really small -- or it might have been a great big accomplishment. No matter, it chipped away at the barriers between us, and sooner than I could imagine, she was placed in my arms.

The third dream? Well, you guessed it! It was writing and selling a book. I tackled that dream in the same way. Each day, I did something that I could do toward my goal. It might have been writing (I'm a big believer in writing every day on a project), or it could have been studying the market, or making connections with other writers so that I wouldn't feel so alone.

Those other writer friends were crucial. In this business, there are times you get down, times when you don't feel like you can go on. The key, though, is to keep plugging along ... and you, too, will get to the ark, right alongside of the snail.