Moving forward

One more thing to say about anger (or frustration or worry). At some point, you’ll decide to move forward. You’ll seek to overcome powerlessness by finding areas where you have power.

For me, moving forward meant joining a gym. I needed to do something about my weight, but I had been struggling with inertia. I tried using the small gym at work or going for walks around the neighborhood, but I could always find some reason for not going. There’s something motivational about having to pay for something. If something is free, you can take it or leave it. If you pay, it forces you to get started. And when you start doing it and get into a habit, the momentum keeps you going.

I also decided to take another shot at submitting Amiga for publication. A publisher is opening for submissions soon. I know I have the option to publish Amiga myself, but I would rather have it be selected for publication and have the resources of a publisher to give it the polish and support it needs. In the meantime, I’m going to a presentation on book promotion at the same library where I exhibited at Indie Author Day.

These are simple things, but it feels good to move forward.

We must remember that moving forward, even in small ways, brings up resistance. Change puts those around us on guard. They get used to the guy in a rut. Even if we’re unhappy, the unhappiness seems familiar. But the greatest resistance comes from ourselves. Moving forward requires discomfort, and we’d rather be miserable than uncomfortable. We let our fears get in the way. And powerlessness becomes its own reward. We pride ourselves on our martyrdom as we wrap ourselves in excuses.

But then we look at people who faced harder situations than ours and see how unjustifiable martyrdom is and how flimsy those excuses are. That’s why I like stories about people who came up from hardship to achieve success. What sets them apart from the rest of us is that they’re willing to put in the work, take the risks, and accept the discomfort. They didn’t make excuses or give up when they hit roadblocks. They began with the decision to move forward, and they followed it with the decision to keep moving.

With this in mind, I’ve decided to move forward on the areas where I felt stuck. And if you find yourself wallowing in anger and frustration, look for ways that you can start moving and keep moving.