Have you ever launched into a new project, hobby, or job and then trained for it in your sleep? The first time I experienced this phenomenon was when I was hired to be a cashier at Woolworth’s five-and-dime store. I was thrilled to have a job that didn’t involve watching the neighbor’s kids or delivering newspapers at 4 a.m.
Maybe you’re too young to remember this historic store, and although I hesitate to age myself, when I was hired, they still had antique cash registers that didn’t require electricity to operate. I’m not kidding. For a $17 sale, I’d have to hit the $10 button, the $5 button, and the $2 button. And for the piddling cents added on? One row of numbers 10-90 and another row of numbers 1-9. Sound complicated? Added to this little challenge, we had to separate the taxable items from the non-taxable items. Ring up the taxable, calculate the tax, add it in, then add the non-taxable and ring that up as well. And if that’s not bad enough, I started the week before Easter. The place was a madhouse with parents buying tons of candy (non-taxable) along with everything else for their little ones’ baskets.
I was ringing up sales in my sleep for days. So very stressful for a sixteen-year-old girl. The only thing I had to compare it to back then was geometry—by far my worst subject ever. It didn’t take long for them to upgrade the registers, but looking back, I appreciated being challenged. These days, I cringe when I see how young people (I sound ancient, don’t I?) are ill-prepared for the simplest math calculations at a cash register. If they can’t plug in the exact amount of money they’re given, they can’t make change.
Every job I’ve had since—from coding doctors’ diagnoses for medical billing to teaching Middle School—I trained for in my sleep. When I first learned to knit or started a new sewing project with complicated measurements…even memorizing the piano keys. All in my sleep.
Writing never posed the same set of challenges. I didn’t need to learn a new skill set, although it was important to hone the craft. Marketing though? That’s a whole other story. When I begin to understand how Facebook works, they change it. Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter…social media nightmares that have kept me sleep deprived on more than one occasion. I don’t dare delve into TikTok.
So, I shouldn’t have been shocked that when I decided to launch my podcast, I’d fall prey to dream-training. Days before my first scheduled interview, I was converting MP4s to MP3s and downloading them into Garage Band for editing in the wee hours of the morning—all without leaving the comfort of my bed. Worrying over whether the microphone would work properly, or if my questions would be thought-provoking, or, please Lord, NO, what if I lost my voice?
These past several months, I’ve been learning the ins and outs of indie publishing. Had I only one book to start with, it would have been less stress-inducing. Instead, I had fourteen, plus my newest release, Train-Wrecked Hearts. The more I learned, the more I realized my lack of knowledge.
Talk about sleepless, prayer-filled nights!
I wonder if the average reader has any idea what goes into producing a book. It turns out the writing is the easy part. Purchasing ISBNs, formatting properly (no, you cannot download a Word doc and call it good), and book cover designs. And the marketing I mentioned above? It’s a whole new ballgame without a publisher backing me up.
So much to learn.
There is only one way around this—stop challenging myself to grow. Stop learning. Stop reaching. Stop. Stop. Stop. But then what? I think about my adorable grandfather, who chopped wood until he was 85 and lived to dance at his 100th birthday. He challenged himself all his life, and he never stopped learning or growing.
My grandparents had celebrated their 62nd anniversary before Grandma died of cancer. Did Grandpa give up? No, he remarried. After another fifteen years with his bride, he passed away peacefully in his own home, with a huge stack of books by his recliner. Not only was he a voracious reader, but he was also an amazing pianist—who played only by ear—and a true inspiration.
I am a self-professed perfectionist, which is not a humble brag. I annoy even myself sometimes. If I could be more like my husband—laid back and chill—things might be less stressful. We live in a fast-paced, ever-changing technological world, where what seemed cutting-edge when I was seventeen is now history—literally. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could pay for groceries with my watch, for heaven’s sake. Not that I do. I feel ridiculous when my phone isn’t within reach, and I have to answer my wrist like a secret-agent spy.
Honestly, I don’t want to live to be a hundred, like Grandpa—I would love to be with Jesus sooner rather than later. But I also don’t want to give up on life—learning and challenging myself every day. It’s the only way to live.
And by the grace of God, I will master (or at least squeak by) this newest season. To Him be the glory.
What is the most difficult task or skill you’ve had to learn? What type of training was involved? Maybe, like me, you dream-train. If so, please comment below. I’d like to know I’m not the only nut out there.
Comments 1
I’ve had dreams where I was smiling (so big) as much of my work experience has involved some type of customer service. But the job I trained for as a window clerk for the USPS was by far the most challenging (memorizing every zip code, then memorizing every route at my particular location!),