The Insecure Writer's Support Group

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. We post on the first Wednesday of the month. To join or to read other post go here.

Last month I shared my greatest insecurity. It has followed me throughout my life in everything I have attempted to do. To read it go here.

This month I will share how to overcome your insecurities. How I overcame mine and still must struggle against it to overcome every time I sit down to write.

Perseverance.

I first learned about perseverance when I was a child. Because I struggled to learn how to read due to being switched from my left hand to my right hand, the result of the whole learning system in schools which resulted in my mother teaching me to read using phonics. However, I was already in the 3rd grade. I faced a long and difficult journey. Libraries were not my favorite place. I didn't have a collection of books I couldn't wait to read. All because I couldn't read. Every night my mother read to me and at the top of the list was, The Little Engine That Could, byWatty Piper and Lauren Davis.

What is the message in this childrens book? It is perseverance. The Little Engine was smaller than the other engines and was entrusted with delivering toys to a town over a hill for the good little girls and boys. The hill was steep, and the Little Engine struggled up the hill. All during that struggle the engine said, "I think I can, I think I can." Once it reached the top of the hill the engine proclaimed, "I thought I could."

When I struggled with the sounds of words and then piecing them together my mother would say to me. "I think I can." By the 4th grade I was reading.

In 6th grade we studied the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. I learned that he had failed at everything he attempted to do in life until he found his passion. Abraham Lincoln suffered from depression. I suffer from depression. He overcame debilitating depression while he kept this country together. My depression is not as severe. St. John's wort seems to do the trick. I think I can overcome to write my stories.

Whether we have real people or fictional characters as our heroes, it is important to own what lessons are of value. Perseverance is one lesson that all of us can embrace and practice. So go out there and follow your dream.


I hope this is an encouragement to all of you.
Nancy