#15Habits Day 4 with Jeff Goins: Practice Doesn't Make Perfect

Posted on the 14 June 2012 by Shawndrarussell

Today Jeff told us to do something scary, in public. Well, I can't think of anything scarier than sharing my opening paragraphs of my first (and soon-to-be published) novel, Couple Friends, with a bunch of other writers who may just be my toughest critics :) The first four notes of “Here Comes the Bride” doomed our friendship for good. As her maid of  honor, I had a front-row view of the terrible decision she was about to make, and I couldn’t see how our friendship would survive after today. I froze as they exchanged vows, unable to shake how contrived the whole day felt. My heart had never beaten so hard as when she asked me, just hours ago, to deliver the groom’s gift to her husbnd-to-be—a bottle of Southern Comfort, which he snatched from my hands before promptly turning his back to me. The family and friends that gathered for the occasion had no idea of the doubts swirling around in my head, but I worried Jane and Bill could see into my soul as I silently prayed that despite my huge, suffocating concerns, they would have a long, happy life together. Scratch that. I should have screamed at the top of my lungs for Jane to run while she could after what happened last night.