Don't Be in a Hurry

By C. LaRene Hall

Caution in life, does pay off.


Confucius says, “The cautious seldom err.”


One important lesson I’ve learned is - don’t get in such a hurry while driving or writing to speed on through those red lights or to send your manuscripts out before they are ready.

I only live about ten minutes away from my work. Depending on which way I go, I have five or six intersections with lights that I go through each day. Yesterday, three red lights were run, not the yellow cautious ones, but the bright red ones. I’m grateful that I’ve learned to wait a moment before venturing into the intersection after the light turns green. It’s a shame that so many people are subjected to those who every day have to run the red lights. I wish we could all be safe, but the truth is that every time we get into our cars we are putting our life on the line. We have to drive defensively and watch out for ourselves.

Sometimes authors get into a BIG hurry to get their manuscripts in the mail, only to find out they missed something. Maybe they didn’t do their research enough and sent it to the wrong person. Or, they should have done just one more edit to catch that one mistake they missed. Either way, I believe we should set our story aside for a short time, and think about what we are doing. A new look in a few days may make all the difference in the world. Make sure it’s ready to go before you stick it in the mail.