Good thing for Youtube & Google.
As today is Sunday, for you, loyal readers, know who today is dedicated to for my writing routine.
I had a band in mind and I thought I had a song they sung in mind to go along with my thought and compliment today’s article.
The lyrics, “Sunday, Sunday…”, were coming to mind. Except…
That’s the wrong song. It’s not, “Sunday, Sunday” it’s “Monday, Monday”, but the band, The Mamas and the Papas did do them both and by the time I get this done you will probably be reading this on Monday anyways so it’ll work either way.
The lyrics for the Sunday song and it’s title start out…
“Sunday will never be the same…”, how true, how true. Ever since mom passed away there hasn’t been any day the same since. They say time heals all wounds but wounds leave scars that ache sometimes and so I am glad I have found that I enjoy writing as much as it seems my mom did.
A chip off the old block… indeed!
Visiting with moms P.A.Ls (Papers, Articles and Letters) I have shared how she had to submit most of her articles under dads name in order to be taken seriously and be accepted by the outdoor journals she submitted to.
I have found one where she was able to use her own name. It was critiqued, accepted and published. Pretty cool.
Today’s article has a few jobs to do.
A writer has three objectives and they are to either…
- Entertain you,
- Inform you,
- or Persuade you.
- I would like to hit #1 for sure and #3, if you are considering tackling a goal.
Also today’s article for me, is a stepping stone, a building stone and hopefully a commemorative stone at some point in the future.
Today’s article, “A Chip Off The Old Block” is a personal ‘atta boy’ and a ‘Thank You’ to my mom.
There is a gentleman with an online presence, multiple books and a storied service career by the name of Jocko Willink. I was listening to one of his motivational Instagrams and in it he said, referring to his military service, “We were trained to make a bold move when the $h*! was hitting the fan, don’t sit back, take decisive action.”
That was recently. Last January I was ‘practicing’ making ‘bold moves’ and being ‘decisive’. I had found a resource that provided me with tips on “How to be a Freelance Writer” and I followed the advice and had a goal for January to submit three articles for consideration as an exercise to get better at writing and with an outside chance of getting paid for it.
(Advice we all need from Jocko Willink | Donal Scott Golf
I found three companies that I thought I could intelligently write an article for and proceeded to craft the three articles and by my goal date all of the articles were ready and I clicked ‘SEND’.
It was a little nerve racking. Like sending your first child to school for the first time. Then…
Nothing.
Remember, I’m learning this process. I didn’t get an email response, a text, a note… Nothing!
So I assumed the worse… the articles most likely found their way into the old round file.
I kept writing. I posted my articles here @davebosquez.com. I finished my third book “I Am Benaiah” and as the leaves started to turn color I made a bold move.
I left a job, a job I kinda loved and was good at, after twenty-one years and went back into ‘the real world’ in hopes that the new schedule with over 180 days off a year would provide some blocks of time for me to work on my next book, ‘The Definite Dad’ and my new website ‘theemergingman.com’.
My first day on the new job was October 1st, 2018.
And lo and behold there was a letter for me in the mail dated, October 1st, 2018, from https://devozine.upperroom.org/
It was one of the three companies that I had sent an article out to last January and it started, and I quote…
“Dear Dave,
We are pleased to inform you that your meditation has been chosen to appear in the March/April issue of devozine, The Upper Room’s devotional magazine for youth.”
A chip off the old block… indeed! Thank you LeAnn Bosquez!
I would tell you more about the article but I can’t, you see… they also purchased it!
Ecclesiastes chapter 11 reads…
New International Version (NIV)
“1 Ship your grain across the sea;
    after many days you may receive a return.
2Â Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
    you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
3Â If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
4Â Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
5Â As you do not know the path of the wind,
    or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
    the Maker of all things.
6Â Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.”
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