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You Gotta Keep On

And Not Give Up

By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred Published about a year ago • 3 min read
The Biscuit Tin and Truffle Tree

Introduction

This is inspired by a tiny thing that happened today. Last year our neighbours Ray and Michelle got us a tin of biscuits from Marks and Spencer and the truffles and biscuits were very nice, that I can testify.

The tree lit up fine, but I thought that there was something special about the biscuit tin.

The Biscuit Tin

When you take the first lid off there is a round black shiny face with bits cut out to show stars, Santa and his reindeer. If you follow through to the Instagram post you can see a video of what happens to it.

There is a battery unit but it is sealed, and I was expecting a button to press to make it go round but I could only see one to put the light on.

These days, when we walk in a shop door we expect it to just open for us (that has hit me a few times when it didn't) and I thought maybe it should just start when I took the first lid off. But there was nothing.

If I turned it slightly there was a jingle, but I thought if I turned it too much I would end up breaking the motor or the drive mechanism. It jingled as I turned it anti-clockwise but then stopped.

I could see that it needed to rotate anti-clockwise but I couldn't see a button for it, and then I thought what would happen if I turned it clockwise. So I did that and it started to tighten, like winding up a watch or a clock, and when it felt tight enough I let it go and it started to rotate and shine and play "Jingle Bells".

Now I don't remember doing that last year, but if I did then I just remembered something, but if I didn't then I worked it out for myself.

I was sure there was a solution and I found it. I didn't give up.

The Lesson

Sometimes people see problems as an insurmountable brick wall. In everything I do in life, even where things are working, my modus operandi is:

"There must be a better way"

There isn't always and sometimes that brick wall IS insurmountable but then you have to find workarounds, not ideal, but they will get the job done.

I self-publish on Amazon using the Kindle Publication Software that you can find by clicking on the underlined link if you fancy trying it yourself, though it can be quite awkward.

I won't go any further with my Kindle stuff as I intend to publish a further story about how I have developed my process of creating self-published books.

Today has taught me once again to look for different paths if the one I expect doesn't work, and once again it has resulted in success for me.

I don't always succeed, but when I release I can't go any further I look for new things to take on, and there is always a cornucopia of those, writing this proves it.

Conclusion

I have many things that I want to do, some far more difficult than others, but I intend to succeed in everything I do.

I know that it is good to take breaks sometimes, although people often wonder how I manage to do so much, although I always look for ways to do things more efficiently.

On my last holiday, I didn't accomplish all I wanted to do, but I accomplished a lot, and I will revisit the things I missed. Sometimes we don't have enough time.

Thank you for reading and I hope this gives you a little inspiration.

As we're in December I included one of my favourite Christmas songs, "Christmas Song" by The Raveonettes. Listen, you will love it.

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About the Creator

Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred

A Weaver of Tales and Poetry

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Comments (8)

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  • Dharrsheena Raja Segarranabout a year ago

    I should really follow your footsteps. You're so inspirational!

  • Andrea Corwin about a year ago

    I love that tin! It is fabulous!! The song is wonderful but the Tin…. I agree with your advice - where there's a will, there's a way - maybe not in the "time" we wish, but keep on trying.

  • Your perspective is always refreshing.

  • Mark Grahamabout a year ago

    You are such a motivated person that it wears off on others. I have self-published on BN.com a few eBooks as well as writing here and re-writing classic novels into Gregg shorthand for BN.com starting in January. My other projects sorry if I am repeating are several more color art books and vocabulary books.

  • Daphsamabout a year ago

    Very motivational! I agree with you, "there must be a better way", is a important aspect to getting through the difficult and very difficult things we do in life. Keep going!

  • Mariann Carrollabout a year ago

    I love the song choice for this piece. This story remind me of my confidence poem. You are a resilient person for sure.

  • Antoni De'Leonabout a year ago

    Nice song and great advice. i would love to hear your version of self publishing. The other is a pain for real.

  • Judey Kalchik about a year ago

    Both of these containers are lovely! How special- and a great object lesson for us all.

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