Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Spinning Plates = Spinning Head

I love watching plate spinners, don't you? It's so cool how they can keep so many plates spinning at one time. Usually, the audience is captivated, holding their breath when the plates start wobbling, wondering if and when one will come crashing to the ground.

Well, I feel like a plate spinner. I have several plates spinning already, but I keep trying to add one more. The problem is, the more plates I try to add, the more chance that a plate or two will begin to wobble, and ultimately, break.

And I really don't mean to whine. Compared to many people - freelance writers, in particular - it may not seem like I have that much going on. In fact, I'm sure there are many of you who could balance every plate I currently have on my spinning rack and could probably add several more. What it comes down to is that we all have our own plate balancing ability. Some are just more talented - and honestly, are called - to balance more plates than others. Maybe it's just a case of poor time management (which I'm the first to admit I struggle with) But right now, I feel in my heart that I'm simply trying to keep too many going. Plate spinning is only making my head spin. And when I'm stressing, it's not pretty. Just ask my family.

So...then the question. Which plate should I allow to go crashing to the ground?

Well, at the moment, I'm letting my Examiner.com positions wobble a bit. The amount of time I've been putting into posting articles and the extreme lack of payment I'm getting for it makes it the most obvious choice. I've really enjoyed promoting authors and writing about something I'm passionate about - Christian fiction and Christian writing - but I need to be a good steward of my time. Not to mention do what makes the most sense for my family. What I really want is to work on my own fiction and with so much other stuff taking up my time and my brain cells, my novels are the plates that have been teetering.

So, it's all about choices and following the direction in which I feel God is leading me. Not sure when I'll give up my Examiner positions but I suspect it will be soon.

What about you? Do you ever feel like a plate spinner? Have you ever willingly let one of those plates fall? And did it end up being the right decision?

5 comments:

Andrea said...

I am learning to let the unnecessary plates fall and NO, I do not regret it.
Blessings, andrea

PatriciaW said...

I'm learning to be mindful. Of my decisions, of their consequences, and of their outcomes. So I decided in January to let my Examiner position go, for the same "extreme" reason.

Clementine said...

I hear ya! I dropped Examiner too when the communication went haywire. I can't work under unorganized people. Write what you want when you can otherwise life will smother every ounce of creativity that's left. I'm going through the same thing right now - hang in there!

Unknown said...

I think God knows what he wants us to do. Listen to your heart and God will lead you the correct way. The nice thing about dropping plates is that you can replace them when you want to!

Unknown said...

Definitely a plate spinner. I usually think I can do way more than I have time to...Most recently I cut down on my blog posting - from 3 days to 2. It was a good move for me! God bless!