Some mornings I wake up with my mind going in a dozen different directions. Do you do that? I have a feeling if I could capture those fly-away thoughts and concentrate on one or two of them for, maybe thirty minutes or so, I might solve some of my problems. Like, where did I put that certain paper I told you about a few days ago. I never did find it! My thoughts are sometimes like cattle milling around inside a corral. A rancher could never get his herd into a certain area if he didn’t run them, one at a time, through a gate or a chute. Now, if I could capture one or two of my problems and run them through a chute of close mental attention, think what I might accomplish! I believe it is called The Power of Concentration.
Perhaps it’s the coming winter storm that causes me to be a bit jittery. Why not? Cattle and horses get fidgety before a storm. School children, too, are excited and uninterested in sitting still. So, that could be the culprit and the reason for my Wednesday morning wanderings.
Another reason is a looming writing deadline. Each time I am sent an assignment from a certain Christian publisher, I get antsy until the assignment is completed and on its way to Ohio. Now, if a rancher’s squeeze chute brings order to a herd of milling cattle, a deadline brings order to my writing. The deadline is in place and I’ve got to meet it. That’s the whole thing in a nutshell.
A writer’s world is full of story possibilities and sometimes it is hard to capture one idea and develop it. My writing assignment is for teenagers and young people of this age face any number of roadblocks and hurdles. It is the writer’s job to zero in on one problem at a time and develop it into a story that encourages the reader and comes to a satisfying conclusion.
Writing helps me bring my rebellious thoughts under control. A story has to have a beginning, middle, and end. So I capture those milling ideas and bring them under the power of concentration. As I write, problems begin to smooth out, confusion gives way to order, and, at last, I am in control.
Words are a writer’s mainstay, our tool to make sense of a sometimes chaotic world. We look upon problems and dilemmas as challenges and as possible story ideas. Take that approaching winter storm, for instance. In the realm of snow and sleet, drops in temperature and rearranging of schedules, a plethora of stories exist. But wait! Another cup of hot caramel drizzle coffee always helps the thought process. Now, if I can just zero in on one idea and run it through my chute of close mental attention…
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