When Life Happens, It’s Okay to Hit Pause on Your Creative Goal.

I recently had to respond to this statement on an assessment test: “I set goals and work towards reaching them.”

Answer options: Strongly agree. Agree. Undecided. Disagree. Or, Strongly disagree.

When I took that “test” a couple weeks ago, I was five days post-op after thyroid surgery. I could sit up and was fully coherent but was still in a mild state of sloth.

I asked myself: Do I set goals and work toward reaching them? Generally speaking, “Agree.” Yet, I thought back on my life as to how often achieving my personal creative goals hasn’t always happened on my ideal timetable. Though a goal may not be completely derailed, sometimes it has been slowed or stalled a while.

That was true for me with getting LaDelle & Jubilant written. It turned out to be a marathon project, partly because life outside the goal happened over and over.

When life happens I’m sometimes compelled (or forced by circumstances) to put aside a long-standing creative goal so I can give extra time and attention to something else in my life like, most recently, my health or the needs of a family member or friend. At times, I’ve had to take on extra clients to help with financial needs, and I’ve moved quite a bit, which is always a time sucker.

The scenarios of life happening are numerous for everyone, but the feelings are the same as we must live in the tension of wanting to vs. able to.

Can you relate? If so, let me just say, “Don’t chuck your goals!” I get that it can be discouraging, but it’s okay to hit pause. Sometimes stepping back from a goal for a time will do you and the goal some good. When life happens and you feel you’re being handed a setback, perhaps you’re actually being blessed with a divine interruption.

Like it or not, God’s ways are not our ways, and his timing is not our timing. Yet, we can trust him in these things. In all things. Breathe.

Sometimes we may be able to continue to take some small steps toward a creative goal God has put on our heart to accomplish even in the midst of life happening. For me, as I continue to heal, I will give myself time. But I also know that at this stage, if I push myself a smidge and work on my next book, I will actually feel better. If that’s you, consider these steps:

1. Do what you can and allow it to be enough for now.

In this season, you may not be able to dedicate as much time as you’d like to reach your goal, but perhaps you can spend a small amount of time and effort working toward it. Twenty minutes a day, three days a week, is better than no minutes a day, no days a week. Little bits add up.

2. Recognize opportunities.

One way I am squeezing in time to work on my novel, is by taking a notebook to my doctor’s appointments. At my last appointment—no joke—I waited an hour and 32 minutes in the exam room before the surgeon came to see me. I waited so long that the automatic timer lights in the room went off—twice. I had to stand up and wave my arms so they’d go back on!

Though an exam room may not be my ideal environment to do some serious writing, I’ve been able to use time like this to jot down plot ideas, think through character backgrounds, etc. It’s also been a great time to read. Reading is fuel for writing, which leads me to number three…

3. Focus on feeding your creativity in simple ways.

There are endless beautiful, clever, or thought-provoking resources to nurture your creativity even when you can’t spend time specifically working on your goal. Here are a few to draw from when you can:

• Go on a walk in nature or visit a zoo. Creation inspires creativity.

• Draw, color, paint. You don’t have to frame anything. Just play around.

• Rest, be quiet, pray, and sit with your thoughts a while without your phone in your hand. (Have you read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer? Do it!)

• Listen to music that moves you. (Give Sarah Kroger a try.)

• Watch a movie. When I take in a good movie, I reflect on character development, how scenes were shot, what was “said” without dialogue, and how the movie made me feel. Sometimes I incorporate observations into my writing. Last night I started watching The Intern (for the third time).

If you’re in a season when you’re struggling to reach your creative goal, hang in there, friend. Perhaps what’s keeping you from your goal is a divine interruption—a gift in some way you can’t fully grasp right now but will later. You’ll get back on track. Have faith.