My Life Has Been Aligned For Me To Become A Writer

When I was growing up in a rural town, I had absolutely no idea how my life would turn out. All I knew for sure was that I wanted it to be better than it was at that time.

When I was in elementary school, I had no idea why I loved reading and writing so much. I didn't take advantage of recesses because I wanted to stay behind in the classroom to read. My classmates teased me, but that didn't matter. I just kept on reading.

When I was a teenager, I chose not to date because I enjoyed staying home reading and writing instead. I was content studying William Shakespeare, John Keats, Alfred Lloyd Tennyson, Robert Browning, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I had no idea where all that studying would lead me. I only knew I enjoyed it.

In high school, I took every available typing course. I didn't know then, but I have had numerous secretarial jobs because of my typing skills. I worked for a publication company and a newspaper where typing was a necessity. I was being groomed for something big, but at the time, I had no idea what it would be or when it would come.

I wrote my first newspaper piece when I was a 16-year-old junior in high school. My prophetic essay titled "What Is Life?" was a foreshadowing of what was to come.

It was no surprise that I majored in English and Literature when I went to college. My path was becoming clearer, but I still had no idea how reading and writing would become my life's work. It was back in the 1960s before computers, smartphones, the internet, and social media became as widespread as they are today. However, I knew I was being prepared for something. I wanted to be ready instead of having to get ready.

Fast Forward to Today

" I am ready!"

Over the last 20 years, I have made a living by writing for 12 online sites. Hunting and pecking on a keyboard wouldn't have been enough. My typing skills are excellent, thanks to those high school typing courses.

As I write every article and poem, I remember the first day I sat in a writing class in college. The professor asked a question that has been embedded in my memory since then. He asked, "What do you bring to this class?" Most of my classmates said, "Textbook, pen, and paper." My answer was, "I bring years of reading, writing, and the desire to do more of it." The professor said, "Good answer!" I got evil looks from my classmates, but what I said was true. I had been reading and writing all my life, but I didn't know it was preparation.

While in college, I took every available English and Literature course, including Shakespeare, where reciting passages from memory was a requirement. I remember to this day that after I stood before the class and recited long passages from "Hamlet," my professor said, "You know you could have stopped at any point. You didn't have to recite that many lines."

Today, when I write, I still remember those words. I enjoy writing so much that it is not a chore for me. It is enjoyment. It is my pleasure. I tend to go beyond what is expected of me.

I know now that God prepared me for my life's work. I didn't know then that He was ordering my steps on the right path. I did not know what the end would be, but I walked the paths that were before me.

I get paid for what I do. I never get bored. I never get tired. I never have writer's block. I always have something to write.

A famous quote is: "Love what you do, and you'll never work a day in your life." I do not work a day in my life because I get paid for doing what I love!

Other Readings

• The Benefits of Writing
• Health Benefits of Reading