The Time to Write Your Novel is Now

For four years I have cared for my hibiscus, pictured here. I water it when we're in a drought, I give it plant food at the beginning of the season, I pick the dead flowers off, I keep the bugs away, and I love it. From May to June I watch it grow strong shoots and wait anxiously for that first bud to burst open--and often worry that it won't, even though I know I just have to be patient. Then July comes and the heat index hits 90 or so and Bam! All at once, I'm hit with one perfect bloom and the next day, three! Soon enough I've got seven blooms a day and the whole thing looks genuinely gorgeous.

I love waking up to see my hibiscus covered in large, open flowers, but by the next day, those blooms are gone. A hibiscus flower only lasts about a day, maybe two, but by then it's drooping and starting to discolour. You have to savour the beauty while it lasts, the day it's available.

Free time, too, is a beautiful thing. You realize that it's there, wake up to its presence, but you choose to ignore it for the moment because you've got a TV show to catch up on or some errands to run. You get home at the end of the night and you realize your free time is dwindling and will soon be gone. You ignored its beauty, you didn't take advantage of it when you could.

The time to write your novel is now, while you've got the time. Don't wait until the flowers are gone, appreciate the beauty while it's still here. Fall and winter are coming, you may not have the chance after today.