My husband got a text. It was from his writing group. It said our local newspaper was looking for correspondents to cover cities and also mentioned an upcoming writing class. This piqued my interest at first as I’d like to expand my writing. But then I shot it down as I compared myself to others. I was sure that the writing group members had more writing experience and had been published, unlike me. I gave up the idea.
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A few days later, I felt guilty as I need additional income. So, I decided to send an email to see if there were still any openings for correspondents. I felt awkward composing a letter to a newspaper. I knew my writing would be under scrutiny. I was so sure the newspaper wouldn’t be interested in me, that I was lazy and didn’t even include a resume. I basically said, “I’ve worked as a proofreader and I keep a blog. Here is my blog address.” Two days later, I received an email from the newspaper, from the editor, no less. She said “What a fun blog that was to read” and then asked me what I wanted to write about for the newspaper. Great things can come out of small and simple things, like writing a blog.
Now, I’m the correspondent for the city of Bountiful, Utah, the largest city for the newspaper to cover. I will be writing news articles and feature articles, and possibly some other articles on the side. I will write for the digital and paper versions of the newspaper. I will be a journalist. That is so cool. But I almost missed it. When you think of giving up, “Get Back Up” sings Toby Mac. “We lose our way, we get back up again. It’s never too late to get back up again. And one day you gonna shine again. You may be knocked down, but not out forever.” I thought surprises and happy endings were just for the young but I was wrong. Life can still surprise you. Dreams can still come true. Keep believing. Keep trying…and never count yourself out.
