Well, the contest is over and I'm happy to say that I did not win.
WHAT?
Why am I happy you ask?
A funny thing happened over the last week. Bryan Hutchinson has been posting the top three entries on his blog over the past several days. I was excited to see that I had not taken third place. I thought I still had a chance to grab the first or second prizes. On Monday of this week I saw that I had not taken second either. More excitement as I realized that I had to be the winning entry.
Then I read the winning entry that was posted on Wednesday. It was a fantastic essay and one that I will probably end up referring back to in the future.
Growth From Despair
OK, maybe despair is a bit too melodramatic.
As I read through the winning entry, I realized that there are too many other phenomenal writers out there. I'm not going to win every contest. Then I remember that I have won. I am a writer. I have my work in print.
So you can see that maybe this was one of the best things that could have happened to me. It spurred me to sit down and write this very blog post. It is pushing me to continue working on my other writing projects, even if they are not yet published or even on paper yet.
It's true that writer's write. That's what distinguishes us from other "normal people." We don't just talk about telling stories, we actually sit down and let them come out.
I want to extend a big thank you to Bryan Hutchinson from PositiveWriter.com, Jeff Goins from goinswriter.com and countless other influencers in the world. Without those people, it probably would have been years between my stints as a writer. For now it has only been a few months.
Are You A Writer?
Let me know. If you took a break to read this post...you're done now, so get back to writing!