Sue Snafu

A tale of almost-woe: Yesterday’s post, “Susan Soars,” almost didn’t make it to you. Through a sudden glitch on WordPress (which I love, love – so easy to use!), it mysteriously disappeared into cyberspace. Luckily, my wonderful husband David, who’s ever-patient and far more technologically savvy than I am, came to the rescue. While he was wrestling with WordPress trying to find my wayward document, I mused (stressed would be more accurate), about this unexpected turn of events. Since some helpful ideas emerged which I think we can all fruitfully apply to our writing, I’ve decided to do a follow-on post to share them.

Luckily again, I had recently posted these words of wisdom from Miles Davis: “Do not fear mistakes. There are none.” (See No Mistakes). I decided to really take these words to heart and reframe my pending problem: losing my post completely and having to reconstruct my work. So, if losing the post isn’t a mistake, I thought to myself as David fiddled with my computer, what is it? An opportunity, a lesson, an eye opener, a gift – all these possibilities sprang to mind.

An opportunity: If my post was indeed lost and I had to reconstruct it, this would give me the opportunity to improve it. To be honest, I’ve lost posts before and when it happens, I’ve adopted a productive approach: Instead of kicking myself, I get to work write away (pun intended!) to recreate it and challenge myself to make it even better than the first one. This turns a problem into a possibility.

A lesson: Stuff happens, Karin! Don’t get sloppy and cavalier. Make sure your original post can be saved, so if you lose it on WordPress, you’ve got a back up. I am writing this as a Word document which I am going to copy and post.

An eye opener: OK, I have to admit, I can easily “go global” when I an event blindsides and discombobulates me. This means instead of just saying, “Oh, well, I’ve hit a little snag today,” I can jump to “Wow, this is the third rough patch I’ve run into and the new year is just starting – this could spell disaster!” Take a chill pill, Karin! This is just a blip on the radar screen – nothing more. This Sue Snafu reminded me how easily I can shift into my global mode. To offset this, it’s inspired me to come up with a plan: Instead of going global, I’m going grateful. When a snafu arises, I’m going to immediately shift from the dark side of it into gratitude that it’s a rare event, that it’s fixable, that I have help — anything positive I can come up with.

This ability to reframe a problem when it occurs, a tool we all have access to, turned my Sue Snafu into a gift – something of value that will be of use as I go forward. It’s a great exercise to try as we all write on.

 

 

 

About karinwritesdangerously

I am a writer and this is a motivational blog designed to help both writers and aspiring writers to push to the next level. Key themes are peak performance, passion, overcoming writing roadblocks, juicing up your creativity, and the joys of writing.
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2 Responses to Sue Snafu

  1. Jacqueline Stearns says:

    “Never Make The Same Mistake Twice” Donald Stearns

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