Linda: Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he will never be disappointed…Alexander Pope.
Disappointment
is part of the human condition. Who among us has not felt its sting to some
degree?
When we don’t achieve what we desired,
we are tempted to quit. The pain is simply too much.
For me, I’ve recently struggled with
disappointment, having gone from never getting published, to acquiring an
agent, to getting multiple book contracts and then having those books tank in
the marketplace. When will I realize success?
So I did some research. I discovered
that most often disappointment is caused by what psychologist call cognitive dissonance. This occurs when
expectation is incongruent with reality. When our desire or object of pursuit exceeds the bounds
of reality, defeat is likely and it can lead to disappointment.
Can I reasonably expect I will hit best seller rank
with any or all of my books? Perhaps not. Look at James Joyce or Theodore
Dreiser. Can you name all their books? No. Not all of their works came off the
presses with gusto.
When faced with
so much disappointment in our careers, we are tempted to jump to the
conclusion, “Must be I didn’t hear God correctly. Perhaps I’m wasting my time.”
If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation
in every disappointment – Henry David Thoreau.
Remember
the story of the fox and the grapes? After repeated
attempts to reach the grapes through normal fox-type behaviors, he gave up,
stuck his tail between his legs and slunk off, saying to himself, “Oh well,
they were probably sour anyway.”
Disappointment
cripples the soul when we believe we are “deserving” of a particular outcome. When
life does not curve the way we want or if we don’t receive what we feel we
deserve, we give up and become enslaved in Disappointment’s domino effect: I
expect what I think I deserve, I don’t get it, I feel disappointment.
Does that
mean we shouldn’t try?
No. That’s
sour grapes.
Likewise,
we may need to reframe our approach to our writing. That does not mean we
should let go of the prize.
God has
created us as unique individuals with different characteristics. We often make
the mistake of expecting the same outcome as someone else who may have traveled
a similar path, and we fail to take into account our different makeups, the
peculiar God-made construction.
His way may
not match our pre-conceived design.
Rather than
view the roadblock as failure, we can perceive it as a time to reflect and move
forward again, perhaps in a different direction. Always, though, within those
struggling times, God has prepared a harvest of blessings, if we choose to look
for them.
How have you handled those discouraging moments in your writing life? We'd like to know your tips for getting past those times.
~~~
When a romance writer and her estranged publisher husband
attempt to reconcile, malignant forces and a pending lawsuit seem
bent on keeping them apart. After fifteen years of marital disarray, Henry and
Sylvia Fitzgibbons (aka Lana Longstreet) independently contemplate divorce,
their relationship relegated to Henry’s infrequent visits to the Connecticut
estate and their once a week meeting at Chez Phillipe’s in Manhattan. But, not yet. There is the matter of the decaying
rose gardens and the thirtieth anniversary party the children are planning.
Reluctantly, Henry moves in for the summer, steeled against the hauntings that torment
only him. As reconciliation seems possible, the evil forces within begin to
target Sylvia as well. Like the
strangling vines within the rose beds, Henry and Sylvia have become victims of
spiritual neglect. Their only hope remains in surrender to a power greater than
the evil determined to destroy them.
Linda’s best-selling Adirondack Romance, It Really
IS a Wonderful Life, is published by Lighthouse of the Carolinas
and is available wherever books are sold. Her next releases were her devotional book, I Prayed for Patience God Gave Me
Children and Days of Vines and Roses (also available where ebooks are sold).
Joy
Comes to Dinsmore Street and A
Christmas Prayer have been released in time for the Christmas Season. Songs in the Valley/ Helping Hands
Press. Will be released in late 2013 or early 2014.
Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com or email her at lindarondeau@gmail.com or find her on Facebook,
Twitter, PInterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus and
Goodreads.
