John Denver recorded a song called ‘Some Days are Diamonds” many years ago, and that song came and made itself at home in my head the other day when I was feeling a bit down. Going full tilt with the new book, new websites and a YouTube channel, I realized I was beginning to experience burnout. And then I started questioning, why I was doing all these things anyway?

Some of it was a case of, hey, it was a good idea so I went for it. Some of it was, life is short so go get stuff done! But I realize that my art channel isn’t as popular as some, and maybe I don’t need to stress about getting new videos up twice a week, whether I feel like doing art or not. It kills the inspiration when you have to instead of want to. So, I’m not doing videos there until I feel the inspiration come back! And I’m focusing more on my business at The Publishing Shop because that’s my baby, and I want it to succeed! The book is finished and published, so that’s off the table now. There are other ideas for books but they can percolate on the back burner for a little while. I need to remember that productivity at any cost is not a great thing. I’ll be more productive again when I have taken the time to rest my brain and relax and nourish my soul!

The biggest downer recently is that I’ve been working hard to promote my retail information website, ShopPetrolia.ca but it’s not gaining traction as quickly as I had hoped. People are unsure when they don’t personally know you, so I understand the hesitation to sign up. This is where the ‘some days are stones’ comes in. Sometimes, it is frustrating when people don’t see the heart behind the endeavor. I love my little town; it’s beautiful, has almost everything a person could need and the downtown is doing well even as the downtown districts suffer in so many little towns in Ontario. I had the idea of ShopPetrolia.ca to give a low cost web presence to merchants in town that didn’t have one, and also to try to collect all the businesses I can under one website that could be promoted much like the Yellow Pages of old. It’s hard to have patience sometimes, when stubbornness and lack of patience have been part of your personality since childhood! But I’m growing as a person and I’m learning to roll better with the punches. I’m not going anywhere, and I hope that the people sitting on the fence will give me a chance eventually! Gotta think positively!

Sometimes we do our best and still fail. But the trick to succeeding is to shake off the disappointment and keep trying. So for me, and for any of you who are currently experiencing disappointment in something that you’re worked for, listen up! You were brave to try, and you’ll be braver yet when you try again! You never know when success is just a breath away, so give it your best shot, again, and see how things turn out! It will likely be so much better than you think!