Hey, writers. I have a friend.  He’s a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. We had a conversation and then I wrote this article.

Hit the jump, and let’s discuss.

So I said to him, “Is there anything you wanted to cover if you could choose a topic on the AlohaAlvin website?” Then he tells me something I’ve heard of, but not spoken in the way that he said it.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Interesting. This was apparently something that was said by him and or others during his time at West Point.

So I just did a quick search. Apparently it’s called the Serenity Prayer. But I swear I’ve heard it called different things at different times.

Anyway.

I’ve always loved this quote. It’s really three things in one. I’m keeping my articles on the shorter side these days so I’ll just jump to the third point. “The wisdom to know the difference.” Really that particular wisdom is the the thing I want the most.

There are things that I pour my heart into. You know, there are some things, if you told me it’d be terrible forever then I would reconsider starting. On that same note, there are some things I’m going to do forever regardless, an example of which would be writing. I’m going to write forever, no matter what. From this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, ’til death… Wait that sounds weird. Haha.

But yes. Writing forever.

Meanwhile, if you told me my crazy-ass ex was going to be crazy for all time, I wouldn’t have wasted one second on her, let alone one minute.

Back to us though, writers. While there is no way to obtain an infallible ability to “know the difference,” we do have the ability to write all the stories (or at least the summaries of each, and then determine which path to walk.  Be it the path to completing a story or just avoiding it altogether).

I won’t lie, I’ve recently tackled a multiple story situation. In the end I wound up tackling multiple things. AKA I didn’t have the ability to Nostradamus the winners from the losers. But: Having a stable of stories to practice working on or to send out to editors is never a bad thing.

Also, working on the very varied things caused me to grow as a writer. I wrote them all out, and I encourage you to do the same. It’s a ton of work but I think it’s worth it.

Still, so many stories to work with. If only I had “the wisdom to tell the difference.”

Quick question, writers:

Is there anything you do every November 11th?  

There’s a separate article I’m debating, and it would benefit from other people’s input.

Aloha,
Alvin