Levels of Success (aka Count Your Blessings)

Before I write this blog post, I want to first say “Thank You!” to every person who has visited my blog for the past six years. Your views (which stay in the triple digits every day) keep my passion for writing going. I'm humbled, and grateful for the fact that you have chosen me, of all people, to read my poems, and short stories whenever you have the time in your busy life.

Thank you so much, you are awesome, each and every one of you. Hugs, and kisses.

Now, for the subject at hand, something I've been thinking about for a while since the release of my first published work (my poetry book, Black Stain of Life, available here) and that's the levels of success.

I ask myself this question everyday; am I successful? Before I answer that, let's look at where I was when I started this blog, five years ago.

I was in my late twenties, with no real direction in my life. My dreams seemed just like that, dreams and were in no way about to be realised any time soon. I was lost, along with the added bonus of suffering from anxiety, and depression. Then, in November of 2011, there was a creative festival taking place, showcasing a number of talents from guitar playing, wood works, photography, the works. I liked to dabble in storytelling on my days off, but never really put pen to paper. They were just ideas floating around, and I decided “what the hell?” There really was no better time than now to finally see what I was made of.

It obviously went well, because this blog you're reading now is because of the encouragement I got from my short story (Of Love and Planets, here) and two poems (Wind Dancer, here, and Halloween Time, here). The best compliment I got from that day was “you should write books.”, which I am currently working on. Watch this space.

So, was I successful? Yeah. I was. I took a chance and it paid off. I got good reviews, and inspiration to keep on going with this writing malarkey.

Fast forward to now, and my blog currently reaches the triple digits in views every day. My work is advertised not only on my blog, but on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube accounts. I'm not sure which is bringing in the most traffic, but its coming and it looks like people are sticking around. Is that a success story? Yeah, it is.

I've written a book of poetry, called Black Stain of Life (which is available now. You can order your copy at this link), a collection of thirteen poems on depression and anxiety, not to trigger any bad memories for anyone, but to remind us all we're not alone when life gets a little too hard. Does that count as a success? Yeah, it does.

Five years ago, I never wrote anything, or have a blog to advertise my talents, or even write up a published book of poetry. So, the question comes back; am I successful? And I have to answer; yeah, I guess I am.

No, I don't have a book deal. No, I don't have a literary agent, and, No, studios aren't phoning me for a movie deal. I'd say I have a long, long way to go before I can consider myself a huge name in the publishing world, but its a start and we all have to start somewhere.

Before anyone thinks I'm showing off, I still suffer from anxiety and depression. I still question myself every day, I still wonder what the hell I am even doing, and what I hope to get out of this. Its just, now, I have a goal, and direction in my life. I'm also trying this new thing out called a positive attitude. It doesn't always work, but I'm learning to master it.

“Count your many blessings” is a phrase I've heard many times, I'm only just now starting to put them into practice.

Try it for yourselves, see where you were and where you are now, and you may surprise yourselves. Too many times do we focus on the destination, we hardly ever enjoy the journey. We've all done great things, we just don't give ourselves enough credit.