Eyes on the Prize

So I'm sitting at my computer, staring at the white screen of death that Word gives you when you fire up a new document. I've shifted in my seat at least three times. I pulled up the internet, then immediately turned it back off. The number of dramatic sighs have gotten lost in the din of my brain saying, "just go take a nap."

It doesn't help that the curtains are open, and there is a breeze blowing outside that keeps drawing my eye to the tree with the red leafs across the street.

You see, I just did it again!

Oh, and there may or may not be a small bag of cookies on my desk. At one point there were cookies in there, but not anymore.

Which makes me sad.

But as I was gearing up to write a blog post about book covers, I kept getting distracted by all of these other wonderful (and frankly more interesting) things around me.

I think about what to type, but before I actually begin typing, I have a cookie. Then I must finish the cookie, lick my fingers clean, then go back to typing. But by then, I've decided I didn't like what I had been thinking about before, and I have to start over.

It is  vicious cycle. One I'm sure we've all been through at one time or another. Or five times this afternoon.

So why do we stall?  Why do we dawdle? Why can't we follow the advice of Nike and "Just Do It?"

In my case, the problem is generally one of two things.

First, and forgive me a moment of spirituality, I will figure out that I'm going in the wrong direction in any given project that I'm working on. Sometimes I can fight and fight and fight, but in the end I give up, and turn down a different path, and BAM, life is roses and Sprite. This happens in my life as well.

Second, my eye is not, as they say, on the prize.  Or, and this is a subcategory, I don't have enough of a project thought out to actually have a prize in mind.

Let's take this blog. What is the purpose of my blog? In the beginning, about a thousand writers told me that I had to have a blog, so that when I got fans they would know where to find me. They would want to know witty and silly things about my life. So that's what I blog about. Plus some writing stuff.

But that's sort of gone all wishy-washy. Especially since blogs are no longer the preferred platform of social networking.

But I like blogging. I don't love Twitter.

So why am I here?

Not sure. I guess my goal now is to figure out what my prize is. Then I can go for it.

As long as cookies don't get in the way.

Take a look at something you're doing in your own life. Is it making you happy? Do you know why you're doing it, or could the reasoning use an overhaul? If you don't see a prize, then consider taking the time to reevaluate your actions. Don't waste time on things that don't really matter.

On the flip side, when you see a worthy prize ahead of you, work like crazy to get there. It's always worth it!