DAILY EMOTIONAL DIET
Sunday, June 13, 2021
Never miss twice.
You might react, “What the heck does that mean?”
Yeah, me too.
I had it written that in deep read, in 72-point font on a single page.
I kept it in a file folder, my morning reading folder, the one where I keep my ‘read these things as part of your morning ritual’ material.
Not a thick folder – it holds some gems, some reminders, some self-affirmation pieces, that remind me of missing ingredients in my daily emotional diet.
I’d put it there as a reminder to myself, maybe also as an excuse for myself, to not give up if I missed a day. To be forgiving for my oversight, being too busy, or perish the thought, that I forgot. Cutting myself some slack, if I missed a day, it was OK – just don’t miss two in a row.
Well, I fell off that part of my morning ritual wagon.
Truth be told, during recent months, the whole morning routine fell off the wagon.
Not because I’d lost my optimism, my will to live a vibrant life, work ethic, or recognition that reading every day is essential to writing every day the way breathing is essential while walking.
I still breathe, but I don’t always walk as vigorously or far – there always seems to be too many other things to do first, and then the relaxed long walk gets postponed to later or tomorrow ...
So, for just a moment, never miss twice didn’t have a meaning – it was more of a conundrum that day, as I re-opened my morning ritual reading file for the first time in months.
Time to revisit that file every morning, which I resumed this week, and found some surprises, some old ideas worth shaking up, with fresh eyes on old material.
Here’s the unexpected message in this – I had a completely different taking on never miss twice.
In the context of learning from mistakes, failures, and failed attempts to do things – I often miss my target, miss my goal, fail to meet my expectations or someone else’s hopes: this might be my NEW mantra, or a reaffirmed mantra at least, the secret to all the problems I’ve not solved yet.
Instead of giving up on anything, take the first stab at it, and don’t give up because it didn’t work out right the first time – try a second time, but don’t miss. I’m thinking of stickers, web banners, bumper stickers – NEVER MISS TWICE.
This little bit is brought to you by me, but another source inspired it …
The other day when I began drafting this particular column, I was planning to go for my ‘morning ritual walk,’ but when I checked my phone for the weather/temperature information, up popped a notification of a software upgrade to be done on my iPhone.
I’ve been through those before and knew they take a while. My battery was low too. So, I plugged the phone into the charging cable, started the upgrade, and while sipping coffee, I googled a writer – someone who had just this morning accepted my invitation to do an interview with me for FACILITYCalgary.
I don't usually do much up-front research before interviewing people – I usually research them after I’ve experienced my first impressions. Nearly nine years of experience interviewing people has taught me some techniques to get to the corners, dig in the cracks to find what isn’t in the public domain …
But, hey, I was sitting there with a few minutes I didn’t want to waste. That googling became a wormhole, and soon I was reading an autobiographical short story by that writer, which gripped me. Smart, funny, extraordinary writer, local, pretty (I’ve seen pictures), and my next question, which went unanswered after reading that piece, is whether she’s single, age-appropriate, and wondering how current those pictures were. Who knows what can happen when interviewing someone?
I don’t interview writers very often. Maybe I should. What I’ve found, though, is that if I read their work before I interview them, I feel self-doubt creep in because they are so good, and I’m – on my best day, not that good, which is not intimidating, but reminds me I want to be a better writer.
Which is something that rings true for me every time – realizing that most writing is one part talent, one part craft, and ninety-eight parts perspiration, the ritual of work, and reworking every piece.
Now, back to that folder, so many things I’d not seen in a while.
One worth mentioning, on a scribbled index card: something you’ve done cannot be undone
I’ve added this note: something you’ve done can always be forgotten or forgiven
P.S.: to those who’ve encouraged me to increase my social-media presence beyond my websites and LinkedIn, I’ve taken da-plunge – check out my Facebook and Twitter links below … likes and followers are welcome