(originally published November 2nd, 2005)

A few days ago, I had one of my newsletter subscribers write me to say that I seemed to run into a bunch of problems as I go through my days, and that I should be thankful to have a pretty nice life. I had to think about it for a short bit, because I do have a pretty good life, wonderful in fact; was I complaining about things?

No. The truth is that I happen to be somewhat aware of things that happen in my life, or the life of others, and I file it all away so that I can use them to try to impart my points of view, whether it’s in my newsletter or here in my blog. When one decides they’re going to write anything, they need to decide whether they want to be clinical or heartfelt, or a mixture of the two. Style is one of those things that every person has, and everyone has a different style. One person’s style is not for everyone; even the Harry Potter books have critics (I’m not one of them, though).

There’s an interesting quote I’ve seen that I believe most people need to try to live by at times. When you want to take a chance to do something that could turn out to be spectacular, but you’re worried about what someone else might have to say, think of this one: We should all be like the weather, because it never responds to criticism. Go out, take a chance, and become a success. When you get there, don’t forget to invite me to the party. 🙂