“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.”

― J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

At the risk of coming off as arrogant by quoting myself, this week’s quote brought to mind something I intend to have one of the characters in Fire and Ink say: “Doubt is the greatest enemy of inspiration.”

        It’s easy to get down on yourself when life gets hard. Or, maybe we don’t even need to speak so broadly. It’s easy to be frustrated when anything gets hard. But remember, the closer we get to achieving something worthwhile, the harder it often seems to reach the goal.

        This is why discipline is so important in virtually any endeavor. Inevitably at some point that self-doubting voice is going to start whispering at the back of your mind to give up, and if you don’t have your discipline to fall back on–your day-in, day-out routine of getting down to work–then you’re much more likely to succumb. But when you show up and do your work each day, success is almost inevitable. 

        So don’t listen to that voice, put your head down, and get to it! Before you know it, you’ll find yourself soaring over your obstacles and toward the horizon of your aspirations.

Note to readers: Each week (or, most weeks, anyway), I share an inspiring quote from a fantasy book or author and wax poetic about it, indulging my inner philosopher. If you have a favorite fantasy quote, email it to me and I may share it in a future newsletter: dtkane@dtkane.com.