Advice: Take a break from the stresses of life to honor your God-given talent

It’s been said that God blesses all of us with a special talent. I’ve always known that my special talent is creative writing. Also, it is a well-known belief that we should never squander the talents we’ve been blessed with holding.
These past few weeks, especially, I’ve had a few conversations with my Mama. She’s passed away a couple of years ago, but I still talk to her all of the time, especially when I feel like no one else will fully understand what I’m going through. I’ve kept myself away from most people these past few weeks – not because of any one thing in particular; primarily because things have been far too overwhelming, both personally and professionally.
I won’t go into details … that’s not actually the focus of this blog. But because I’ve needed some time by myself and so I could figure out things about myself, I’ve been asking Mama for some of her special brand of advice. I know that it has been time to finish my novel, get the re-workings done, and get it out there. It has been long overdue. The novel I’ve been struggling with deals with issues from a few years back.
For weeks, I wasn’t sure whether I should just sit back and focus on being alone, or if I should complete what I’ve started some time ago. My Mama wanted me to finish the workings of my novel awhile back, but I put it off because I wanted to focus on my professional life, as well as having my share of personal enjoyment. To do so (or so I've rationalized with myself over the years), I didn't make as much time as I could with her. Well I know all too well that life is short, and if you are going to put your mark on this world, you’d best do it before it’s too late. Mama wanted to do that for a long time, but as she said, "Life just got in the way!"
I got a personal message from Mama a couple of weeks ago, something only the two of us could have known the significance surrounding. But thanks to her message, I know that my focus in the coming weeks needs to be on my novel and to steer clear of anything blocking my path. What I’ve always found solace in was my writings (thus the reasons surrounding my introspective blog, among other projects).
Of anything else, I can’t ignore the completion of my novel any longer. Most of what’s in my novel was worked on prior to Asbury Park. Mama always knew that my novel was a huge part of my existence, and making it to the finish line with the book was my personal goal.
As I need some time away from a lot of exterior things in my life, now is the best time to just concentrate fully on my novel’s completion. Sometimes you need to take yourself out of the equation, so things in your life will equal out to a complete circle. So if you haven’t, or don’t, see me for awhile just know that I’m still alive, I’m just working on myself and my novel. Bernadine still loves ya!
So my only advice to others, as well as myself, would be to never sacrifice your God-given talent for other things seeming more pertinent in your life. If you don’t use it, it may just be taken away. I’m taking a 30-minute break just to write this blog, but I’m getting back to the book right after.
So I’m using my talents … how ‘bout you?