Glass Ceilings vs. Soap Bubbles

One… you place your hands on it and feel instant resistance to any forward movement.

The other… you can look at it with a smile, and when you get a sense of wonderment and elation, washed over with a sense of hope… it bursts!

I’m staring down a pretty soap bubble right now.

Hoping against hope it doesn’t burst on me.

But… my worldly experience has prepared me for the inevitable.

What bubble?

My bubble is… the “writing industry.”

Currently my outlook and potential is unbounded. All avenues are potentially possible.

Just like the beauty of a good sized soap bubble.

I fell into a trap this week. The comparison trap.

”Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“4Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5for each one should carry their own load.” ~ Galatians 6:4-5

I had an opportunity to read an article, written by a younger person, who is intelligent, schooled, and a pretty good writer based on said article.

My first thought was, “Awesome! Great job. Excellent work!” We need to learn to celebrate the success of others, when that success is rightly earned.

My second thought was, “I’m nowhere near there yet in my quality.”

My third thought was, “Am I doing my best? I know I’m still learning, but what if this is it? What if my best isn’t very good… from a “writers industry” point of view.”

My fourth thought was, “How the heck would I know?”

When I get done writing an article or a book, on the re-read… I sometimes chuckle, I sometimes have another thought, I sometimes go back in and change 3/4’s of the text because the thought pattern wasn’t very clear on the point I was trying to make.

Currently, over at definitedad.com, as I work on my “ad campaign that never was,” ad campaign, I review each chapter of the book, (currently on sale at Amazon;) and try to grab the main point out of it and use it as a catalyst for a short “ad article.”

As far as my quality goes, I can see I wrote differently two years ago.

If I did the book today it would be drastically different in the technical writing aspect.

One major issue I see is that each chapter has two points of contention. I can see… NOW… that I could have broken up many of the chapters, and expounded on each individual point… in hopes of making each point a bit clearer. With one or two chapters being “too short,” I could have expounded on those, and made them longer to begin with.

I can see what I was thinking back then, and remember having fun while I wrote it, but I wouldn’t do that today… hopefully.

I wrote an article recently and put forth some, “I am…” statements, that I have discovered of myself.

Here is one more… “I am… prone to being excited about DOING new things… and when I see another person DOING it better than me… especially when they are young… prone to having my bubble burst, and then wondering, “What am I trying to prove?” “Who do I think I am?” “I’m not very good at anything, really.” “What a loser.”

Then I look at the clock.

It says 7:00 pm.

Time to write!

And “joy” is restored!

Having been on this “personal re-branding” journey; with mental fortitude training; I have learned, of myself, that when I compare myself to another, and start to feel bad… it isn’t because they are better… it’s because I FEEL like I could be doing better… like I could learn something… like I could work more… try harder…

Maybe chuck a rock at that glass ceiling,

and if my bubble burst… I can always fill the bubble bottle with Dawn dish soap… in a pinch.

That’s another, I am… of mine. I am… tenaciously resourceful!

Where are you at today? Bumping into a glass ceiling? Or bursting bubbles?