The Verge

Ever get a fortune from a fortune cookie that haunts you? I have.
I got a fortune a few weeks ago that pumped me up, shot me down, and then leveled me out.

"You are on the verge of something big."

Oh. My. God. Really? Wild thoughts flew through my head. One of those editors who has my manuscript may actually be reading it. Maybe I'm going to get an offer, any day now. Maybe the story I'm working on now will be a hit. Maybe I'll find time to write that screenplay novel I've been thinking about and it will be a box-office smash. Wow, this is it! I'm on the VERGE of something BIG. I know it! Woooo!

Silly that a little slip of paper could make me dream so much.

Weeks went by and nothing 'big' happened. I went back to my story and reality hit me full force. It was just a silly little paper. My current WIP is still unfinished, I've received no calls from editors (or emails or postcards, for that matter), and time to write a screenplay? Pah.

I settled back into the hard work of writing my novel. (Did anyone mention that writing is hard work? It is. Be prepared.) Stupid me, getting my hopes up. On the verge of something big... yeah right. Grumble, grumble. Down I went, and my hopes of 'big' tumbled down with me.

I had nothing better to do, soI wrote some more. I brainstormed with Katia (Thanks, K!) and got excited again. I cleared my head and found a way around a block that I've had. This story is working once more. I'm enjoying the necessary hard work.

And then it dawned on me: I am on the verge of something big!

Dictionary.com (because I'm too lazy to find my Webster's dictionary) defines the "verge" as "the edge, rim, or margin of something." Also: "the limit or point beyond which something begins or occurs; brink."

And there I am! I'm on the edge... I'm at the brink. Aren't we all?

Aren't we all at the point where we could have something bigger, be someone better, do something great? We're ALL on the verge. So what pushes us over the edge, into greatness? What gets us past thr point which something (big) begins or occurs? What's the difference between being on the brink of something great and the actual greatness?

Shouldn't be too tough to figure out: hard work. You know, people, if you haven't learned this already then you haven't watched The Karate Kid enough. Hard work. Practice practice practice and all that jazz. Everyone who is successful will tell you: it's not easy.

Back to work I go! I've got to work myself off this darned VERGE. Kind of tired of sitting on the edge. I've got to put in the effort to get to that BIG... and so I shall.

My most recent fortune cookie fortune: "A big fortune will descend upon you this year."

Now let's define "this year."

-PLB