My answer to : What It Feels Like To Be A Struggling Middle-Aged Author With No Plan B by Ericvancewalton

 
Hi Eric, I chose to answer your post as my first piece in Steem other than my introduceyourself, for a couple of reasons. The first would be that 1. I am much older than you and have had very much the same desires, frustrations, and often insecurities.. Except that i have not published a single book, and the only thing I did have published once was a poem when I was fifteen.. Then again I never really tried to find a publisher. But you have!!! So, what is it do you think that isn’t allowing you to live from your passion?   I’ve been through your webpage, and it is elegant and informative. Your Bio is impressive enough, so what do you believe is it that keeps you from larger success? Do you have an editor? Or do you self edit? You even have a book titled: One Word at a Time: Finding your Way as an Indie Author. I am considering, no, I am certain that I will buy it for my kindle.That’s how good I feel about it. So what is it that keeps you from the success you say you desire?
Now I’m thinking that perhaps it has more to do with your mindset than your talents. Admittedly, i have not read any of your books, and I will write you after going through One Word, but I think Eric, you need to focus on what is working for you and let go of the idea of what is not. I know this is much easier said than done..But it is a process, and being that you are a meditator, I believe you have the tools. And it seems to me that you have a lot working for you!!
I for example have toyed with writing my entire long life, and to be honest have not been able to finish one short story ( let alone a novel) that I am happy with.  I have journaled forever, I am a good, no, a great letter writer ( my friends will attest to it, in case you ever need to put someone in their place) and i have been writing poetry also since my early teens.. Here is my blogspot in case you want to take a peek. http://poetryofconfessions.blogspot.co.uk/  Feel free to contribute to the conversation.
As you can see, the last post was a while ago. My problem: consistency.. A problem you do not appear to have!  I had wanted to make it about current writing and not my “old stuff”, but maybe i should revisit this. Just by writing to you, I conclude that I believe tit’s time to jump back in. And this is where I want to emphasize the need for transforming the thought process. I had been stuck in a depressive rut cycle for quite some time. It has taken an enormous amount of fearless soul searching work. And it is work. I also found a great therapist that doesn’t want you on her couch forever, so she patches me up in a crisis, sends me home with homework, lots of reading usually, and this has been my saving grace.. But the work is up to each of us. Also, I am not religious, at all, but I do believe in a higher power, a collective consciousness, and we can call it whatever, The Force, Spirit, Sam, Eloise or God.. This aloneness cannot be all there is, simply not..  
I’d like to add that just by getting on to Steemit, you may find allies through the pages and pieces you read from others that will help you break that thought that you can’t live from your work. I heard you and I emphasize so, there are others out there.. Be fearless, believe in your higher self and know that your higher self will not let you down. Trust your instincts and above all, be grateful. Know that in the end all is well.. Ancient Chines saying.
OH! One last thing… Don’t worry about Plan B. I remember hearing a young folksinger, her name escapes me, but she was just 15 when she hit her first single, she and her hippie parents lived on the road in an RV, and when asked how she knew that she would make it, she simply said: “ I didn’t have a Plan B. “ Think about that..  
Wishing you great luck Eric!!! I look forward to seeing more of your writing and witness the process of the new you unfold!