“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” Ernest Hemingway

“If you want to discover anything in life, you must be an adventurer.” Actor Ricardo Montalban

At first glance these two thoughts almost seem to rub up against each other — as if they are at odds and not tending toward the same direction. But somehow, in my mind, they seem connected, all of a piece. Let’s unpack them a bit and see where they take us.

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have.” This is pretty straightforward, isn’t it? Right now, in this moment, we are free to dwell on what we lack — what we don’t have. But if we do, we lose the moment — it falls down a black hole and disappears. There’s a better choice we are all free to make.

“Think of what you. can do with what there is.” What power there is in this handful of words! They free us to take action — to do something worthwhile right now with “what there is” — with what we have at hand, with what’s available to us.

And what’s available to us? Only think of what we have the power to call upon right now!

We have ideas — wisps of thought — that we can turn into stories and wonderful characters.

We have life experience — all that’s happened to us in arriving where we are today is fuel we can use to spark the fires of inspiration.

We have desires and needs — these are the motivators that keep us going and growing — wanting to be more and to do more.

We have our will to create — wherever we are on our writing path, we are here because we feel the call to create.

What riches we have to nourish and sustain our gifts and growth!

And beyond all this, we have the call to adventure!

“If you want to discover anything in life, you must be an adventurer.” When we think of what we can do with what we have, we realize that the possibilities are actually endless. We have everything we need to become adventurers, to discover life and share it.

What gifts we have right at hand as we all write on!