Photo Credit: MacBeales Flickr via Compfight cc

I spent a large chunk of 2017 working on a project I hadn’t planned to still be working on. I was hoping it would be done, but in the beginning of the year I found out I had a lot of work yet to do.

At first I was upset, demoralized, angry, bitter. Name a negative adjective — they all applied.

I was caught in the past when I wanted to be looking forward. Other projects had to be delayed, projects that I had been excited about and to which I eagerly wanted to return.

I had a pity party or two. I find it’s easiest to just give in to disappointment momentarily rather than trying to push it away or stuff it down. I always feel better in the long run.

My personal writing projects remained stagnant. Only now, in the past couple of days, am I returning to writing that I haven’t looked at for a year. And you know what? I still like what I’ve written, and I’m excited to move forward.

The year wasn’t a waste in terms of writing. I WAS writing. I was thinking, analyzing, mulling, finding just the right word, forming just the right sentence. I was pushed out of my comfort zone. I enjoyed what I was writing (even though there were other things I’d rather been writing about).

This interruption taught me a lot about myself. Growing pains are called “pains” for a reason. But in the end, the hope is that you’re stronger for it.

Have you been sidelined, this year or any other year? Did something unexpected take you away from what you had planned to accomplish? What was the end result? Did it make you stronger? What did you learn from it?