Sometimes, when you have the castle in your sights, you find a dragon guarding the moat. A huge, nasty dragon with the worst halitosis you can imagine is trying to thwart your plans and ruin your resolve. The vicious beast could be anything – circumstance, a horrible customer service representative, or someone/something that has failed you. However, what’s in the castle doesn’t matter. It could be a princess, the man of your dreams, a great job, a scholarship or the hope of becoming a famous artist. What matters is the action you take once you see the scaly fiend kneeling before you.
I got to battle two dragons this week. First, my hand began to tingle Friday, as if I had slept on it, but I thought it would fade away. Saturday, however, I was greeted with a swollen palm and three numb fingers. Concerned, I called Dr. Mom. Prognosis: carpal tunnel. I type a lot as a teacher, as a columnist and as an aspiring poet/novelist, so I began a laundry list. While I have never been a big gamer, I had to admit to my mother that Boyfriend purchased Guitar Hero (Aerosmith edition) for my birthday. Though I never play more than 20 to 30 minutes, she figured that was the culprit. I had to use my hand less, and ice it, but this injury was only a baby dragon. It's heifer of a mother wouldn’t raise it’s ugly head until Monday.
Come Monday, I began wondering about grad school notifications. Like my father, I seem to be addicted to going back to school. I took the GRE again in the fall (it expires every 5 years) and had applied before the winter break. Enter the motherload of dragons to stage left.
While the deadlines to these schools have passed, not all over my paperwork had arrived – which means I may not even be considered for these schools due to an “incomplete” package. So, I did what all aspiring 27-year-old writers do – I called my mother and freaked out. However, I did not forget my resolution for 2009 – be patient, don’t let the obstacles in life thwart you, worry only about what you can change and problem solve rather than complain.
I admit that first, I complained to my mother about the situation. Then, however, we talked about what I could change, what I couldn’t and I took action rather than wallowing. I beat those dragons up with my sword! By contacting all the department heads about the mail dragon, the dragon went down. By emailing former professors about schools that accept spring admissions, the deadline dragon burned. By having high hopes, and re-mailing information to the schools that will let me, I killed the “Oh-God-I’ll-never-be-a-famous-author” dragon. (How ‘bout them apples, Hemmingway?)
The point is, like my dear friend, Kat, likes to say, “I could have tucked my tail between my legs, but I didn’t. I stood up for myself. I might be getting paid peanuts sometimes, but I know what I am doing is righteous work.”
And sometimes righteous work is work you do to use your gifts, to do what’s right and fulfill your destiny. Good luck with your dragons this week. I hope you find strength to swim across the moat and slay that ugly thing waiting on the other side.
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