Post by donq on Jul 23, 2014 6:47:50 GMT
Though it’s true that we should not rush anything but do it one day at a time, and as John Maxwell said, “Success is not a destination thing, it’s a daily thing”, but we still have to make each day counted.
From now on, I have to apologize if I will focus more on writing. It’s just that I have something to do with it for almost 30 years now, so I’m kind of being comfortable to talk about it. But it also could mean about anything you love to do but still postpone to do it or think that it’s too late to do it. No, it’s never too late to do something you love!
Two of my dear friends haven’t finished writing their first books yet. For the sake of my safety, let’s call them here, “L.” and “K.” :-)
L. has her gift. She can explain something that’s hard to explain in the plain and simple words which are easy for everyone to read and understand. It’s really a rare gift. But somehow she could not finish her first book because of this very special gift. Her interest/curiosity jumps from this and that stuff to another this and that stuff all the time. She always wants to understand and explain so many things at the same time.
K. has a great aptitude of patience. She almost finished her first book so many years ago. But the more she has gained her wisdom and experiences to help other people, the more she gains her greater aptitude of patience, too. And that’s why she hasn’t finished her first book yet. She is always extraordinary patience.
Lao-tzu said, "The journey of a thousand miles must begin where you stand." In fact, he was teaching about wu-wie (action by non-action) which didn’t literally mean about the first step but understanding something beneath our feet or stillness first before we really make our move such as taking our first step. But after we understand that, it’s time for us to take a first step continually everyday, without rush, until we naturally reach our goals one day.
As Thomas Alva Edison said, "Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration" And John Ruskin also said, “I know of no genius but the genius of hard work.”
Is it too late for both of my dear friends to write a book? No, never!
Let me give examples of some late bloomer significant writers.
Bram Stoker published The Snake's Pass when he was 43 and no one heard about it much. But when he wrote Dracula, at the age of 50, well. :-) And he said, "We learn from failure, not from success."
Laura Ingalls Wilder: she is best known as a children's author and the scribe behind "Little House on the Prairie" and its various sequels. But the novels that have come to be recognized as childhood literary classics were written after Ingalls Wilder turned 67.
Harriet Doerr’s first novel was published at 74.
Daniel Defoe completed Robinson Crusoe just before his 60th birthday, after a turbulent life as a journalist.
Mary Wesley launched The Camomile Lawn at 70.
Tolstoy published War and Peace when he was 41, and Anna Karenina eight years later, at 49. Dostoevsky published Crime and Punishment at 45, and The Brothers Karamazov at 59. Henry James published The Wings of the Dove when he was 59, and The Golden Bowl at 61. Mark Twain published Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when he was 50. Thomas Hardy published Tess of the d'Urbervilles when he was 51, and Jude the Obscure at 55. Joseph Conrad published Lord Jim at 43, and Nostromo at 47. Virginia Woolf published Mrs. Dalloway at 43, and To the Lighthouse at 45.
And yes, Cervantes (who inspired my handle, DonQ) published the first part of his Don Quixote when he was 58. :-)
