When the Unexpected Happens by Wendy H. Jones

I've decided that the only guarantee in life is that you can't guarantee anything. Life may be trotting along quite nicely and then something comes along to disrupt those well laid plans. The regular contributor to the 16th of each month is currently unwell, so I stepped in to help out. It was an honour to do so and I wish her a speedy recovery.

Yet, writing another blog post today was unexpected for me. Yes, I already write for another blog on the 16th of each month and rung out my creative juices on that. Or so I thought. As writers, we often have more creative ideas than we can ever imagine. If that sentence actually makes any sense. Anyway, we have a huge and awesome brain and we often forget to use all of it. A change of circumstances or something unexpected, if we let it, our brain will step in and give you the answer.

As well as being an author and the webmaster for the Association of Christian Writers, I am also the President of the Scottish Association of Writers. As part of this I sometimes visit groups which are affiliated to the organisation. This week has found me in Wick, Thurso, John o"Groats and Freswick visiting groups and in a series of meetings. It's been a great week and I am currently on the train with intermittent WiFi. Good old Scotrail does it's best but there are a lot of black-spots in Scotland. All that stunning terrain can have its downside. Not ideal conditions for writing blog posts. Looking on the bright side, it gave me lots of time to think about what to write.

Spinning Plates

I've been staying with friend and fellow ACW member, Dorothy Courtis this week, and she has been a fabulous host. We've had some great conversations and some of them have made me think and take stock. When I realised I had to write this blog, she asked me how I kept the plates spinning? Fab question. When I thought about it I realised, I don't have any plates spinning. To me that image means chaos, running around and exhaustion. So how do I work? I approach everything on a linear model. I work by moving forward to reach the next task or goal. If something comes along, I merely slot that task in and do it when I reach it. Yes, the tasks may be closer together for a little while but it's still just a task. If anything gets missed, you just step over that task on the line and move on to the next one. Nothing has come crashing down like the spinning plates. Nothing is broken. All is still well.

Linear Model

You know what, there are things which matter in this life. Emergencies have to be dealt with and there will be times in life where it seems you will never get through everything. Take a step back. Look at the line. Which of the tasks can you remove from it without causing seismic tremors? You will find there are more than you think. People are important. God is important. Turn to prayer and do what's important. No one will suffer and you will be much happier. The unexpected will happen. Embrace it, analyse it and decide if it's worth worrying about. Then start writing. We always have God and we always have writing. Remember that.

About the Author

Wendy H. Jones is the award winning author of the DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries, Cass Claymore Investigates, The Fergus and Flora Mysteries and the Bertie the Buffalo Picture Book. She is also the President of the Scottish Association of Writers and the Webmaster for the Association of Christian Writers, as well as a popular International Public Speaker. You can find out more about her, as well as book her to speak on motivation, writing and marketing, via her website