Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory. — Mahatma Gandhi

Well, here I am, jumping in to the blogging world again. One thing about life, as long as we’re breathing, we can begin again.

I started this blog back in February but ended up abandoning it after a few posts. There were a number of reasons, and they all added up to frustration beyond my level to struggle through. In all due respect to Gandhi, I find there is one more stage for me in the journey to accomplishment, and that is to get all aggravated at the struggle and to set the work aside, while I go on and do some things that are needing to be done, and are definitely more enjoyable in the doing. For a long time I used to feel badly about this habit, however, time has shown this way of working to be helpful to me. I have learned the value of taking a break, of resting and getting a second wind. Without fail I come back with a new perspective on my difficulties, and I run right through to the victory.

Years ago, when I was working on the final pages to a book, I fell into a frenzied panic because my brain simply would not think of how to wind up the plot. I sat at the computer, attempting to force myself through. At that moment, I received a telephone call from a neighbor. In the course of our conversation, I broke into tears and told her my problem. “I just can’t get it,” I wailed. “I can’t figure out the scene.”

She replied calmly, “Go out to the garden. Pick tomatoes.”

“I can’t do that!” I sobbed harder. “I have a deadline! I have to get this done!”

To which she said, “You are not doing it sitting there forcing it. Go out to the garden. Relax the rest of the day.”

I felt a failure to abandon the struggle. Wasn’t that giving up? Didn’t that mean I was licked? How could I face giving up? But, exhausted, I did what she suggested. The next day, rested at least somewhat, I started to work again at the computer. To my delight, the scene fell into place quite easily. Valuable lesson learned.

There will be struggles, yes. But there will also be a time when the best thing you can do is abandon the struggle. By abandoning struggle, you give yourself the opportunity to rest, relax, reflect. Go on and do other things. Wait until the time is right. Then jump in again and see how it goes. There is no such thing as wasted time. We learn from the struggle, and we learn when we abandon it, too.

So, here I go again….