Faster (An Older Fiction Story I Wrote)

      "Breathe. Just breathe.", he told himself. Pressure weighed heavy upon him. Stress sought to cripple him, the same stress he had from a life that nearly killed him, one of schedules of one hundred days working and one hundred days off. Always running. Always busy. Putting in long hours and intense focus, through many sleepless days and nights.

        "Breathe. Focus. Let it flow as you listen.", he thought to himself again, sitting down to write once more. One hundred more days had passed and nothing worthwhile was showing up on the screen. No great writing. The same dragon emerged once more, the one that showed itself before and nearly killed him, and it was making it’s appearance again to finish the job this time,  resulting in his downfall. Bills were piling up and he knew his family needed him, needed income and his contribution. He couldn't write anything worthwhile though. He felt it was all garbage.....or so he thought.

         This being his only income generator he felt even more pressure, and it was intensifying this time. It was the same pressure that once ran his health into the ground, inducing panic attacks, and almost causing a heart attack (according to his doctor).... things were different now though. He didn't have to run anywhere, do tedious tasks, or work for a tyrant of a boss who demanded nothing short of his soul; all he had to do was write well. So, he did. The same hundred days now became his catalyst for healthy change.

               He typed his words as the fear gripped him, the pressure to produce seeking to cripple him again. He wrote as the stress that once held him tried to break him again, speaking honestly as he wrote his article (one regarding anxiety and how to deal with it), telling plainly his story, yet profoundly the lessons he had learned from it, was learning from it. Hours were as each one hundred days from before, and the pressure fueled him. Every technique developed under such heavy weight was used with ruthless efficiency. The chains of stress were being broken at last and a life was being set free and empowered: his!

            He finished the article and combed over it carefully in editting, correcting what was needed. In the process he poured over each word with a focus that was laser-guided; he became a man possessed in the determination he accessed to finish it.

            All was done and he sent it off to the client. The days ran on once more, until finally an answer was given.  After careful consideration, the publication accepted his work and offered him an opportunity as a regular columnist. Taking time to think it over and discuss it with his family he decided to accept, realizing this was a better environment and that he would always be under pressure, knowing now though how to deal with it better..he just had to breathe; for this time he wasn't living faster, just wiser in how he dealt with the stresses of life.

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