Writing lessons from my mentor..

Endurance lessons for writers...

Monday 26th September 2011..Kenilworth..Warwickshire..UK

All the advice from writers and mentors about writing highlight the importance of endurance and dedication, without it our ability to feed ourselves physically and mentally will often fail to bring success. The goal is a published piece of writing. Yet often, despite all those voices giving us advice how many times does the real "kick in the pants" come from an unusual source?

The back garden of my house is an unlikely location for what may be one of the most outstanding feats of endurance I may have encountered and certainly one that took my breath away.  The walk  along the path takes me through a trellised arch of grape vines which rises to about three metres from the ground, with the leaves above my head.

This morning I was looking at the number of bunches hanging above me which I hadn't noticed before and something  caught my attention on one of the leaves above my head. I guess right now, your wondering how this ties in with endurance? I saw a snail hanging onto the leaf slowly eating it's way across the "track." It's shell wasn't that big and it barely covered the size of a thumb nail, but there it was three metres off the ground.

How did it get there? 

How did the snail, carrying it's own house get there?

There was a small trail at the foot of one the post holding this part of the trellis up, but who's to say it was laid by this particular snail. As a traveller, as someone with a touch of the adventurer inside me am I wrong to give this hero the benefit of the doubt?

 What guts and fortitude it must have taken to begin that climb. What were the dangers of doing a night climb? Or was it undertaken over two or three days?

 I smiled and passed on by, but had the little thought to myself that success comes from "keeping going", that sometimes reaching the means of feeding yourself takes great endurance and single mindedness.

What do you think?

And if you have any ideas on how it may have got there apart from climbing, I'd love to hear from you at www.balancehealth-fitness.co.uk

@ErnieBalance on twitter