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Stop and Smell the Roses by Victoria Roberts

During my grandparents' generation, it was not uncommon for families to have five or more children. People worked hard to feed their clan, and the family unit was a tight-fit bunch. In today's world, most parents have to work, and there's so much hustle and bustle in normal life that more often than not, it's difficult to keep up. Who can relate to that?

The past several weeks have not provided me with ample time to breathe. Between putting out fires at the day job, sorting through editorial notes, copy-edits, plugging away at the new manuscript, carting both kids to basketball games and practices, coordinating my son's birthday party and helping my daughter and son with homework, sometimes I ask myself what the heck I'm doing. Is this all really worth it? I'm sure many authors can relate.

How many times have we read our manuscript and thought it was nothing but crap? And then we read the same manuscript the next day and feel it's brilliant. Ugh. I think it's a never-ending cycle.

When I feel like I'm in a slump, nothing cheers me up more than receiving notes and e-mails from readers. Those are the moments when I realize that all that hard work, all that dedication, and all the blood, sweat and tears were worth it. I touched someone's life. Wow. That's amazing to me.  

Being able to write what we love and having readers who appreciate our efforts is truly priceless. I've realized that no matter what your passion, you need to be the best you can be, but don't forget to occasionally stop and smell the roses.

When was the last time you stopped to smell the roses and did something for yourself?




Comments

  1. Such a great point, Victoria! I took an hour out yesterday and if I ever finish this *!@# book, I'll take a day or two off. I told my husband I was going to take a day off, and he was like, I'll believe that when I see it.

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    1. Thanks for the comment, Shana. I think we all need to give our minds some much needed vacation time.

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  2. I love what you said here: "Being able to write what we love and having readers who appreciate our efforts is truly priceless. I've realized that no matter what your passion, you need to be the best you can be, but don't forget to occasionally stop and smell the roses."

    When was the last time you stopped to smell the roses and did something for yourself?

    I'm trying to take today off from my little volunteer job. I have so many loose ends to tie up right now!

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  3. We are a very close knit family and if we have outside activities to do we try to do them as a family. We try to lead a very simple/slow paced life and I love every minute of it. We encourage our kids to always stop and smell the roses, to see what is going on around them. Thanks for a great reminder!

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    1. I think that's very important to instill in our kids today, Susan, especially when we can tear them away from video games. ;-)

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  4. I love this Victoria! And with spring almost here, it's a great time of year to take a breath and enjoy where we are, with our work and our lives.

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  5. Lovely thought, to stop and appreciate. It has been such a busy year, and it's just flying along. I'll try and take a moment. :) And yes, looking forward to spring!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Sherri. Don't forget to breathe. :)

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