This is part of a running series about English idioms - less about language, more about life itself. Previously, we covered 'missing the woods for the trees', 'the elephant in the room', 'practising what you preach', blowing hot and cold', 'no smoke without fire', 'one swallow does not make a summer', 'apples and oranges', 'cut to the chase', 'leave no stone unturned', 'that's the way the cookie crumbles', 'can't have your cake and eat it too', 'old is gold', 'putting the cart before the horse', 'mountain out of a molehill', 'pot calling the kettle black', 'bite the bullet', 'go the extra mile', 'silence is golden', 'the devil is in the details', 'sink or swim', 'once bitten twice shy', 'don't count your chickens before they hatch', 'don't put all your eggs into one basket', 'chicken and egg', 'walking on eggshells', 'flogging a dead horse', 'better late than never', 'storm in a teacup', 'between a rock and a hard place', 'darkest before dawn', 'empty vessels make the most noise', 'birds of a feather flock together', 'separate the wheat from the chaff', 'let sleeping dogs lie', 'open a can of worms', 'light at the end of the tunnel', 'trial and error', 'look before you leap', 'lightning in a bottle', 'on the same page', don't judge a book its cover', 'reinvent the wheel', 'shifting gears', 'throwing in the towel', 'jump on the bandwagon', 'passing the buck', 'breaking the ice', 'cracking the code', 'when it rains it pours', 'bigger fish to fry', 'ball is in your court', 'back to the drawing board', 'square peg in a round hole', 'don't rock the boat', 'a whole new ball game', 'burning the midnight oil', 'never say never', 'get all your ducks in a row', 'make the hay while the sun shines', 'tick all the boxes', 'a leopard cannot change its spots', 'fools rush in', 'final straw that broke the camel's back', 'tip of iceberg', 'hold the fort', 'draw a line in the sand', 'sour grapes' and 'missing the mark'.
It was tough to get going, at the start. Not knowing what exactly I've walked myself into. Onto a journey to a new frontier with no reliable map or guide. After many twists and turns, I ended up hitting a brick wall anyway...
But after a few false starts and dead-ends, I managed to find my way through. Trial and error. Constantly learning and improving by myself.
But the process certainly was from easy. At some point, I wanted to give up. My heart couldn't take any more rejections. My heard was filled with self-doubt. Should I keep trying and trying? What if this publication thing isn't really for me...
But eventually, I made a breakthrough. After months of waiting in anguished suspense, the email notification I had been dreading to receive in fear of another rejection had arrived... FINALLY! ACCEPTANCE! WOO HOO!
And I never looked back since then. The next publication went well without hitch. And then the another. All in a space of one year.
So what had seemed like a hopeless cause a year ago had turned into a routine exercise. Of course, every new publication attempt comes with a different challenge. There's still a need to burn the midnight oil and bang my head against the wall.
But I've gotten the hang of the process. And with a few new trophies under my belt, maybe I can start setting bigger and harder goals...
There's a feather in my cap, spring in my step. I'm growing in confidence. What had seemed like an arduous trek through a mountain now seems more like a walk in the park...
There's a simple moral to this story. Don't give up. Keep calm and carry on. It's always darkest before dawn. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a painful few steps before your feet start loosening up and breaking into a run.
Yes, Confucius didn't say all that, I just made that last bit up. On top of my head. While writing all these words in a blitz run. Writing comes very easy to me, see? On good days. But sometimes, I struggle to even get pass the first sentence, and can only stare at the blank sheet in utter despair while questioning the very point of my existence...
The first run is always the hardest. Once you've found your pace, the rest of the journey will be a walk in the park...
It was tough to get going, at the start. Not knowing what exactly I've walked myself into. Onto a journey to a new frontier with no reliable map or guide. After many twists and turns, I ended up hitting a brick wall anyway...
But after a few false starts and dead-ends, I managed to find my way through. Trial and error. Constantly learning and improving by myself.
But the process certainly was from easy. At some point, I wanted to give up. My heart couldn't take any more rejections. My heard was filled with self-doubt. Should I keep trying and trying? What if this publication thing isn't really for me...
* * *
But eventually, I made a breakthrough. After months of waiting in anguished suspense, the email notification I had been dreading to receive in fear of another rejection had arrived... FINALLY! ACCEPTANCE! WOO HOO!
And I never looked back since then. The next publication went well without hitch. And then the another. All in a space of one year.
So what had seemed like a hopeless cause a year ago had turned into a routine exercise. Of course, every new publication attempt comes with a different challenge. There's still a need to burn the midnight oil and bang my head against the wall.
But I've gotten the hang of the process. And with a few new trophies under my belt, maybe I can start setting bigger and harder goals...
* * *
There's a feather in my cap, spring in my step. I'm growing in confidence. What had seemed like an arduous trek through a mountain now seems more like a walk in the park...
There's a simple moral to this story. Don't give up. Keep calm and carry on. It's always darkest before dawn. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a painful few steps before your feet start loosening up and breaking into a run.
Yes, Confucius didn't say all that, I just made that last bit up. On top of my head. While writing all these words in a blitz run. Writing comes very easy to me, see? On good days. But sometimes, I struggle to even get pass the first sentence, and can only stare at the blank sheet in utter despair while questioning the very point of my existence...
The first run is always the hardest. Once you've found your pace, the rest of the journey will be a walk in the park...
No comments :
Post a Comment