Letting Go

I've been so, so blessed in the friends that I have, who have supported and encouraged me in this new writing endeavor, as in all my other endeavors. I can't tell you how much it means to me, when I'm doubting myself, doubting what I'm doing, to hear you say you think I'm doing the right thing, that I have to keep going, see this thing through. I am grateful for the way you believe in me even when I have trouble believing in myself.

One of my good friends recently sent me an article about how to get past the hurdle of your own negativity while striving to reach a goal. One of the things the article said to do was to avoid people who are negative about you. When you take a risk like this, you find out who are the people who really believe in you. There are people in my life who try to avoid ever asking about what I'm doing or talking to me about it, as though my giving up my salaried job was equivalent to contracting a loathsome disease that I should be grateful to them for overlooking. Maybe part of the reason they treat me differently now is that I'm no longer the resource that I used to be for them? After all, how much good is an "unemployed" writer to anyone? Some are people I've known for a long time, and it feels strange to see them this way, now. But I have too many good friends to keep devoting time and energy to people who don't care about me or care about what I'm doing. Maybe it's finally time to let go.