When You're Not On Fire

 You know what? I started writing this post last Tuesday.Got a couple of sentences together, then deleted them because they were stupid. Thought I'd start again on Wednesday.Wednesday came and went in a flurry of meetings and appointments.Thursday. On Thursday, I vowed to start again.I really did.Thursday came. Wrote no lines. Not even one sentence.And then, of course, it was Friday and everyone knows that no one writes on a Friday.Saturday was a chore day. I amused myself by running themes through my mind as I mopped, convincing myself that something brilliant would emerge.It didn't.Today, I sat at the keyboard at 9am.Until 10am.Then, with no advance notice, it was 11am.No words. No. Words. Came.I decided that I would take a walk and think about what to write. And, to kill two birds with one stone, I decided to walk at the grocery store.This strategy failed.Then, I had lunch, imagining food would help.It was delicious but no ideas came into my head.I returned to the keyboard in search of something, anything, to say to you. To inspire you, to motivate you, to help you do that thing you really want to do.And...I got nothing.So, that's what I'm going to leave you with. If you find yourself feeling like there's something you should do but you find that day after day you don't actually do it - well, then you owe it to yourself to take a break. And figure out how to get on fire about it so you can begin again.I think all of us get to this place from time to time - when it feels like we're pushing a rock uphill. When things really don't flow. When we're just not on fire. When those moments happen, just relax. And wait for the spark. Because it will come.It always does. It may look different than what you expected, but there is going to be a spark of a great idea. And a big, creative, warming fire.Got a match?