You don’t begin at the end

I watched as my daughter skated across the ice practicing nervously for an upcoming competition. She was no longer the youngest on the ice snd she was surrounded by skaters doing jumps, spirals, and Mohawks with ease and grace. I watched her, remembering where she started from on her tiny little skates when she was three and now she was doing spins and jumps. She had improved so much and soon she would be performing her first solo.

I don’t skate well, I surely can’t do jumps and spins, but I thought briefly about learning the basics just so I could skate with her and have fun, because that is where memories are made.

Yes it takes time, effort, dedication, perseverance to achieve greatness or to be good at anything. Ice skaters make ice skating look beautiful and effortless, like they just got on the ice and with natural talent and grace, glided on like they were born to be there.

The fact of the matter is that talent only gets you so far. Us spectators only get to see the finished project, a few minutes of a program, the accumulation of months and months of work and practice. Swizzles, missteps, falls, off ice training, repeating the technical maneuver over and over again for a half hour until your so irritated, the coaches pushing you, calling you out on your mistakes, demanding you do better because they know what your capable of, and practicing the routine with your team time and time again so that when competition day comes…it’s practically flawless.

I was scared as a child to make mistakes and fail, this led me to not trying new things because I didn’t want to be made fun of. There are so many things I missed out on just because of this stupid fear, because I wasn’t perfect. That’s no way to live. Life isn’t perfect, nobody is perfect. I would shrink down if someone was better at something then me. I gave up hobbies I enjoyed because people told me I wasn’t any good at them. It was depressing. What I should have done was done it anyway and gotten better at it.

Just because someone is better at something than you doesn’t mean you should quit it means you should work harder. Spectators are spectators, they are not out there putting in the work. You are. Whether it’s writing a book, ice skating, playing guitar, painting, or running a new business venture, it all starts somewhere. You learn through mistakes and experiences. You may not be that famous author you admire, or that amazing guitarist you saw on stage, but you have your own talents, gifts, and niche that make you perfectly suited for what you want to do and if there is room for improvement, improve.

It’s like the picture of an iceberg 90% is underwater, the part the spectator doesn’t see. The pinnacle of that hard work is the final product of what they do see, the part on top, the accumulation. Everything takes work and time. Success in anything comes from deep down, hard work, determination, and practice. Remember that as you watch the beautiful ballerina, the iceskaters, the opera singers, and the celebrities you admire. Know the only way you are going to get better is to take that first step, follow you passion, and grow.

I love to paint, write and create things. I’ve made a living out of helping people. I published my first book after I let go of needing to be a good daughter and receiving permission and approval from my parents. I had realized that I was a grown woman who could live my own life and make decisions for myself. I put the doubt and fear to the side, even when people I respected told me I shouldn’t pursue publishing the books I wrote, I did it anyway.

I now have three books in the Charity Graves series published and the fourth one is almost done. I have three other stand alone books I’m working on and I’m still enjoying time with my family and my day job. I’m living proof you can accomplish your goals if you work hard. I’ve inspired others to follow their dreams because we need to do what we love. If you want to stay connected, learn about my books, or just need a bit of a pep talk please reach out at Lakirchheimer.com or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Much love and I can’t wait to see where your journey begins.