I Wasn't Always a Writer

 

As a kid, I worked as a laborer.

Outside. 

In the hot summer sun.

Hired for my back, not my brain.

Good experience for a kid. 

At least it was for me.

I learned about hard work ... 

pushing myself beyond expected limits ... 

dealing with difficult bosses ... 

working beside people with different life experiences and goals ... 

coming to terms with how much tax the government took out of my wages ... 

being grateful for how nice it is now to be working in an airconditioned environment while sitting in a comfortable chair ...

Take a minute to think about your early work experiences.

I’m not asking you to comment. Just to think about it.

What did you learn from them?

What about the memory of that work makes you grateful for your current job?

The Value of Expertise

I tightened it as far as I could by hand, but the drip continued.

There was a leak, and I couldn’t shut off the main water valve.

I grabbed a wrench. Then I thought twice and called the plumber.

With a grunt, the plumber forced the valve another half turn and said, “that’s all she needed.”

“I was afraid to do that,” I said.

“Understandable. I’ve done this a thousand times and have a feel for how far to push it. If you’d taken it too far, you’d have gotten a face full of water and a $350 bill from me to fix it.”

I tell prospective clients:

In either lost revenue or lost time, 

weak copy will cost you far more 

than paying me for excellent copy.

Most of ‘em understand.

Cause they’re dealing with the results of copy without that necessary half turn of the valve.

Pessimists Unite

 Let’s hear it for pessimism.

Why not?

Being a pessimist isn’t all negative.

Think about it. When you’re a pessimist, you’re constantly being either proved right or pleasantly surprised.

Yet, on social media, optimistic quotes dominate.

It’s time to balance things out with a couple of dozen quotes focused on pessimism from folks like Warren Buffet, Seth Godin, and Mark Twain.

Nothing makes me more pessimistic than the obligation not to be pessimistic. — Eugene Ionesco

Pessimism is, in brief, playing the sure game. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. — Thomas Hardy

A pessimist is a man who looks both ways when he crosses the street. ― Laurence J. Peter

Pessimism is as American as apple pie – frozen apple pie with a slice of processed cheese. — George Will

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. — William Arthur Ward

If it tastes good, it’s trying to kill you. ― Roy Qualley

A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely. ― Cyrano de Bergerac

I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will. ― Antonio Gramsci

There's nothing particularly wrong with being more pessimistic than optimistic. Optimism is broad-based, non-detail-oriented thinking; pessimism is detail-oriented thinking. — David Rakoff

The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum. — Havelock Ellis

The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much. If he is an optimist after it, he knows too little. — Mark Twain

My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists. — Jean Rostand

When investing, pessimism is your friend, euphoria the enemy. — Warren Buffet

When something good happens it’s a miracle and you should wonder what God is saving up for you later. — Marshall Brickman

Life is a business that does not cover the costs. – Arthur Shopenhauer

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. — Bill Vaughan

To the pessimist the light at the end of the tunnel is another train. — Joan Rivers

Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerve give to wisdom. — Bernard DeVoto

A pessimist is a person who has had to listen to too many optimists. ― Don Marquis

The pessimist reasons that things just happen, where the optimist believes that things happen for a reason. — Anthony Liccione

The blues aren’t pessimistic. We’re prisoners of hope, but we tell the truth and the truth is dark. — Cornel West

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. ― James Branch Cabell

I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism. — Roberto Rossellini

Human beings, thanks to culture and genetics, are inclined to be pessimistic, fearful, skeptical and believers in conspiracy theories. We also don’t like change. — Seth Godin

A pessimist is one who builds dungeons in the air. — Walter Winchell

The pessimist is seldom an agitating individual. His creed breeds indifference to others, and he does not trouble himself to thrust his views upon the unconvinced. — Agnes Repplier

We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect. – John Kenneth Galbraith

Pessimism is the logical attitude to adopt about the human condition. Yet there is no need to consider this conclusion depressing. On the contrary, I consider it to be a realistic one that gives due weight to the catalogue of evidence available to us, providing an antidote to optimism. — Stuart Sim

Pessimism: A valuable protection against quackery. — John Ralston Saul

There’s no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another. — E. B. White

I tend to be pessimistic about everything: If things seem to be going good, I’m worried that it’s going to end; if things are bad, then I’m worried that it’s going to be permanent. — Jesse Eisenberg

The first-rate mind is always curious, compassionate, original, and pessimistic. — Mignon McLaughlin

What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too. ― Chuck Palahniuk

_________________________

The Final Word

In the long run, the pessimist might be proven right,

but the optimist has a better time on the trip.

Daniel I. Reardon

Martin Luther King, Jr., the Writer

Martin Luther King, Jr. is rightly celebrated for his skill as an orator and his ability to engage and motivate a crowd.

But don't overlook Dr. King's abilities as a writer. 

Beyond the speeches that he wrote, delivered, and is remembered for, consider this example of his power with the written word (even without his impassioned delivery):

Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts, and pray long prayers?

 

 If you want to take this exploration a step further, follow this link to what many feel is the best example of his prowess as a writer: "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"