MAGIC POTIONS

by Deborah Elliott-Upton

For me, getting motivated to do anything when the temperatures soar into the triple digits is difficult. Sometimes even putting on a swimsuit or raising a cold drink to the lips is an effort. I know that I’m in big trouble when I don’t even want to read a short story much less write one.

Mrs. Fletcher… That’s all she wrote.

Too tired mentally and physically and like the elderly lady in the Lifecall™ commercials, I’d fallen into a slump and couldn’t get up. Perhaps I needed a magic potion or elixir.

Perhaps a change of scenery would wipe away the dreariness of the heatwave. When an invitation came from my sister in a much larger city than mine, I traveled to a Get Motivated seminar. The trip couldn’t have come at a better time.

I needed to hear someone excited. Someone who’d say, “You can do it!” Someone who had picked himself up and made things happen.

“It doesn’t matter where you start. It’s where you end up.” – General Colin Powell

If after hearing former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giulinani, Secretary of State General Colin Powell, former First Lady Laura Bush, NFL superstar Joe Montana, motivational expert Zig Ziglar, and real estate mogul James Smith all before the lunch break couldn’t elevate me, what would?

Except, before I arrived at the convention center – and despite the big city’s even higher temperature and humidity levels – I’d already been knocked out of my slump. I’d stopped on my way into town at my sister’s workplace. She and I have criss-crossed the country to attend seminars and I knew we’d have a good time even if we just sat and talked. Her office is a fun atmosphere, but sometimes, she gets overwhelmed by the workload just the same. My sister informed me a new group of trainees had just started classes and in making small talk, she’d discovered one of the young women was a beginning writer. My sister told her I was coming by and asked if she’d liked to meet me.

There’s something about a burgeoning writer. Speaking to her, I could tell she was excited about the craft and anxious to move forward. In conversation, I found my attempt encouraging her were like holding one candle wick to anothers’ flame. There was a moment of ignition and then both flames burned as bright as the first. As I mentioned the local opportunities available to her, I could see her excitement grow.

“You can get everything you want if you help others get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar

The all-day seminar was fabulous, with speaker after speaker sharing phenomenal stories, tips and encouragement. I couldn’t even begin to say which was my favorite. I was in complete awe of the lineup.

The magic potion worked for me. Tucked into my niece’s bedroom, I stayed up late and scribbled ideas for stories I didn’t know I had hidden away in the catacombs of my subconscious. Characters spoke to me and whispered confidences that intrigued the writer in me to dig deeper.

One of the best lines I heard at the seminar was from James Smith: “Don’t spend more on coffee or cokes than you do your education.” I made a promise to myself to sign up for a writer’s workshop in the fall to hone my writing skills and an appointment to meet at a local coffee shop with another writer whose advice had always benefitted me. I was curious how her own writing was coming along, too. She’d been in the arena longer than me and as far as I knew, she’d never stopped moving up the ladder. I want to emulate her success.

On the way home, I was renewed with hope. My energy soared. I do have more stories to tell. Now if it would just rain a little.