“Where there is no choice, we do well to make no difficulty.“ — George MacDonald
This is a story of failure. And of a landscape that we’re a part of. I learned a lot from it, and I hope you will learn from it, too. It’s important to share failure stories, as we often only talk about successes. Sometimes, though, reading about things that didn’t work brings as much, if not more, benefit.
Let me tell you then how I tried going against the flow — and failed. Before I will begin, though, I’d like to set the context right. I am a self-employed freelancer, running a profitable business in the UK. I work with many clients at once, and rarely on a single project. The majority of my work requires me to speak and interact with people. There’s some writing on top of it all, but scheduling plays an important part in my professional life. I am also a perfectionist, and it’s hard for me to be spontaneous. I am trying to fight it. It might be to do with my upbringing and learned behaviour or to do with my interests. There’s never enough time. You might know what does this feel like. Stopping and breathing are important but difficult.