Why Authors Must Be Resilient During Crappy Times

 

2020 has been quite a challenging year for the nation. A national health crisis. An economic meltdown. Protests over racism and police brutality. Riots leading to senseless violence and properly damage. Then throw in all of the cyclical traumas that befell certain regions, such as out-of-control fires in California and record-setting hurricanes in the gulf states. Collectively, this is probably the worst year in America since World War II or The Great Depression. 9/11. The Great Recession, and the Vietnam War era of turmoil at home and abroad were not picnics either.

But, despite the hurt, anger, depression, and loss suffered by countless millions this year, one has to remain optimistic for the future. We have to find a way to move forward unless we plan to remain a permanent casualty of this year’s events. Still, that is no easy feat. We can’t just waive a magic wand and make all of the threats, challenges, and changes disappear. However, we can adopt a certain mindset of resiliency and work together to help one another.

This leads me to a card game I acquired a few years ago. You may have seen it. It’s aptly called Shit Happens. The boxed set of cards contains 200 negative events. It undercounted greatly. By looking at them I was reminded of how many day-to-day traumas, big and small, we may confront on a regular basis. In ordinary times we easily could suffer any number of pains, losses, and inconveniences. This year all of these things were supersized.

Looking at the cards now reminded me of how tough we are. We face stuff on a regular basis that could set us back, but we persevere. And this year, as awful as it is, will be something that we overcome. Our fighting spirit will see to that..

The game’s instructions contained a misery index, a spectrum that ranged from the uncomfortable (enema) to the horrific (surgeon amputates the wrong leg). Maybe we need to put our lives on a scale and look at things through some type of perspective and proportion.

Everyone has something they fear or can’t deal with but once that thing happens, they discover their ability to cope and overcome things.

Shit Happens features cards for all kinds of troubles, including these:

·         Heater breaks on coldest night of the year

·         Four-day power outage

·         Root canal

·         Basement floods

·         Botch a big job interview

·         Lost wallet

·         Phone falls in the toilet

·         Bed bugs or lice invade

·         Bird shits on your head or you step in dog shit

You forget about all of the somewhat ordinary things that can go wrong, like: 

·         Your favorite show is canceled

·         You are caught picking your nose

·         You get a flat tire

·         You discover your first gray hair or a zit

·         You accidentally sext your mother

·         You slam your hand in a car door

·         You spend Thanksgiving with your dysfunctional family

·         You sit on a long flight by a crying baby

·         You fart badly and repeatedly at a funeral

 Many things are merely short-term injuries, embarrassing moments, expenses we did not plan for, or some type of inconvenience. But we bounce back. Then there are things that deeply wound us, such as: 

·         Going blind or deaf

·         Suffering a crash

·         Lose a close relative or friend

·         Job loss

·         Divorce

·         Death of a pet

·         Home loss due to natural disaster, accident, or fire

·         Bankruptcy

·         Being a victim of a violent crime

The list goes on and on of big and small things that can cause us pain, fear, anger, and loss. This is why we have therapists and self-help books, As long as there is life, there is death – and tragedy and despair. But we would not have it any other way.

The optimist accepts loss but seeks ways to find new roads to happiness and prosperity. We all must be optimists. There is no upside to being a pessimist, a complainer, or a chronic victim. We just need to move on, look forward, and treasure the people and things in our lives.

Start today with yesterday in the rearview mirror. Keep driving until it disappears.

 

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Brian Feinblum, the founder of BookMarketingBuzzBlog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com.  His insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are the product of his genius. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo.