KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.
AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.
Dear Reader,
It's bizarre, but sometimes if something is easy for me to do, I figure it must not be anything special. Even when people are complimenting me, for some reason, I feel the need to dismiss their praise. After all, if I've mastered it, it must have been too easy in the first place. My wacko method of thinking is: I should mess with success and try to do it differently next time. Let's kick it up a notch Suzanne, and see if you can do it then. After all, it's not really worth anything unless it was practically impossible to accomplish. Where and when did I latch on to that kind of logic?
I was working on a project the other day and instead of doing it the easy way--following my usual formula--I was trying to make it more difficult. It wasn't working. So I called a friend, thinking I'd hear some words of encouragement, but instead he chided me, "Suzanne, why don't you do it the way you always do? Why don't you do what you do best?"
Hey, there's a thought! Why don't I do what I do best? Because that would be too easy? Oh gee, I couldn't make my life that simple, could I?
When my daughter was a teenager, she always seemed to go about things the hard way. She was a smart girl, but frequently my husband and I would tell her that if she was playing football and could make an easy touchdown by running down the outside, she would still insist on plowing up the middle of the field where four 250 pound tackles were waiting. Why? Well, because the other way would've been too easy.
How does that saying go..."like mother, like daughter?"
When someone compliments me, in the middle of listening to their sentence, I get all jumbly inside desperately hoping they'll stop saying those nice things about me, because they're making me uncomfortable. In the movies when someone wants to get to the truth, they threaten you with electrical shock, or twisting your fingers--all they'd have to do to me is strap me into a chair and say nice things about me for 20 minutes, and I'd fold and tell them anything they want to know. "Please, don't give me another compliment, I'll tell you the secret passcode to the files of the universe--just stop saying nice things about me."
Okay, so I'm exaggerating just a little bit, but maybe in order for me to correct my wacky thinking, I'll have to go down an extreme path.
Or, maybe I need to call my daughter and ask her to tell me a story about running up the middle of the field.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
KIDS BUZZ: Loads of fascinating book stories and buzz for kids and families! Meet new authors--send an email, ask a question and they will reply. Plus enter to win a free copy CHILD SOLDIER: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War by Michel Chikwanine and Jessica Dee Humphreys; illustrated by Claudia Davila (for ages 10 and up). For a chance to win, say hello to the authors and more, see http://www.authorbuzz.com/kidsbuzz.
AUTHORBUZZ: BULLET PROOF (Fiction) by Avery Flynn
Taz Hazard says he's not one of the good guys, but bad-girl-gone-good Bianca Sutherland isn't so sure. The two clash at a wild party and it just gets crazier after that when they end up working together to find a kidnapper and uncover a twisted drug conspiracy. Page-turning fun, romance and action from start to finish.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on BULLET PROOF to read more and to email author Avery Flynn, you'll get a reply.
Comments