Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Tag: Stories

  • Losing Track of Time: Growing Up Too Soon

    Losing Track of Time: Growing Up Too Soon

    When I was ten, my parents bought me a notebook. “Tina,” they said, “you talk so much about so many things. Why don’t you write your thoughts down?” So I did.
    I was an only child with an active imagination, so I wrote every day.

    I wrote about all the things that I wanted to say to my parents. I described all the places that we would go as a family if my parents weren’t always working all the time. In just a few weeks, I had managed to fill an entire notebook, so my parents bought me another one.

    “Want to see what I wrote?” I asked.

    “Later,” they said. “Eat your dinner. Do your homework.” Then my dad’s eyes went back to the screen as he checked work emails, and analyzed numbers to see what he could trade. Mom typed on her laptop. Next to her, her planner was open, full of appointments and bright post-it notes. They were both very busy. They were like this every day of the week.

    Another week passed. Then another month, and another year. My parents bought me my own computer but I still preferred the connection of my thoughts pulsing through my fingers to my pen, and transforming into words on the page.

    Over time, my notebooks filled several boxes in my closet. They contained dreams I wanted to fulfill, sketches of places I wanted to go, lines of poetry, random thoughts that made me draw happy faces across the page, or angry words like silent screams across several paragraphs.

    One day, I went to collect all the boxes of notebooks from my closet. “I can’t believe you’re moving out already,” Mom said. “How long did you study for your degree? Is your boyfriend helping you on moving day?”

    “We broke up. We’re just friends now. I told you that last year.”

    “That’s a lot of notebooks,” said Dad.

    “Yeah,” I said. “You once told me to write down all my thoughts, so I did. I just wish I could have shared some of them with you, but you both were always so busy with work.”

    “We gave you a good life, didn’t we?” asked Mom.

    “I guess,” I said. “You did help with the downpayment of my condo.”

    I made sure all the boxes were closed. I was going to keep them sealed for a long time. Years of thoughts were in there, collecting dust and silence throughout time.

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    Daily writing prompt
    Which activities make you lose track of time?
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  • An Invitation One Can’t Refuse

    An Invitation One Can’t Refuse

    Daily writing prompt
    If you could host a dinner and anyone you invite was sure to come, who would you invite?
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    I knew that he would come to dinner because he knew how important this one evening was. Prior to dinner, we had argued. We had stayed in touch, but we hadn’t seen each other in months. It took me courage to ask him to come to my place. 

    He had been there several times before. In the first year, we laughed a lot and spent hours together, collecting memories. In our last year, we had argued less and less until we didn’t have much to say at all.

    “Will you come by?” I asked. 

    “Yes, of course,” you said.

    So I spent the whole afternoon preparing dinner, making the perfect meal with the food that he loved. I wore his favorite T-shirt and jeans. Remember where we were when I first wore this outfit? It was such a fun vacation!

    He arrived on time, which was unusual because he was often late. He gave me a hug and a kiss, which he hadn’t done in a year. Then he saw the food and couldn’t wait to eat it. “I’ve missed you,” he said. 

    “I missed you too,” I said, my eyes watering, “and I’m sorry.”

    Everything was what I’d hoped for. There were no arguments, no anger. When you remember something, it tends to be perfect because your mind selectively edits everything. 

    It removes all the bad stuff, so you only remember the good.

    I stared at the plate of food in front of him, still untouched.

    It was all in my head, of course. In my mind, I’d fixed it all. We were speaking again. No more regrets over things left unsaid, no more agonizing over mistakes we’d made. Just this perfect dinner where he was here again, and everything was perfect. 

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  • The Lesson We Cannot Forget

    The Lesson We Cannot Forget

    Daily writing prompt
    What’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten?
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    The most delicious meal I’ve ever eaten is the meal I had after I found out the truth about my sister. 

    My parents adopted her when I was eighteen and she was sixteen. I never asked for a sister. She was terrible. She borrowed my clothes without asking and we fought about almost everything. 

    One day, I asked my pharmacist uncle for some help. I wanted to get rid of my sister, but I wanted to do it slowly so no one would suspect me. He agreed to help and gave me a bottle of poison. He reminded me to administer it in small doses with each meal so no one would notice.

    Of course, I didn’t want my sister to suspect a thing, so I became extra nice over time. If she wanted to borrow a sweater of mine, I let her, and said I didn’t really like it anyway. And when her nasty pen-chewing habit got on my nerves, I asked her to drop the pen and watch a show with me.

    Months later, our parents noticed and complimented us on how well we were getting along. I really did start to like my sister. “Sara,” my parents said to me, we’re happy to see you’re such a good role model for her.” 

    I wanted to cry when I heard those words. I went to see my uncle and begged him to give me an antidote for the poison. “You don’t want her to die now?” he asked.

    I shook my head. “No. Please save her.”

    My uncle simply told me to throw out the rest of the poison and my sister would be fine. I had been serving her small doses of fruit juice. 

    I was so happy to hear the news. I rushed home and found her helping with making dinner. I helped too. It was a simple meal but it was the best meal I’d ever eaten because I was filled with a feeling of peace and contentment at having such a great sister.

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  • How Much Would You Pay for Freedom

    How Much Would You Pay for Freedom

    I had one important goal in life: to make as much money as I could, so I could be the perfect son and perfect husband to the girl I wanted to marry. To me, freedom meant giving my girlfriend anything she wanted to make her happy. Of course, it was a dream come true when I was given a job offer I couldn’t refuse, a job that would give me everything I needed.

    This is what happened.

    Daily writing prompt
    What does freedom mean to you?
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    I was asked to do a day’s worth of consulting work at an office downtown. The interview was peculiar. All I had to do was finish a report within twenty-four hours. After that, I would get ten thousand dollars. Easy money for a day’s worth of work! 

    Just as I was going to head home, I received an email:  work for a week at that office and receive one hundred thousand dollars! The catch was I couldn’t leave the office or talk to anyone for five days. It was worth the sacrifice for what I would get.

    A week passed. I wrote reports and then got the cash deposited in my bank account. When my time was done, I called my girlfriend to tell her I was going to see her soon and I had a wonderful surprise. She was overjoyed. Then, I received another email.

    This time, the pay was one million dollars. How could I refuse? I could buy my future wife the house we wanted and I could buy a new car!

    Time passed. I finished the work, and finally, I was free. I wanted to surprise my love, so I didn’t want to waste any time and rushed over to her house. My mind was preoccupied with thoughts about what I would say to her. I didn’t realize how preoccupied I was until I got to the house and was surprised to see it had changed from blue to white.

    I rang the doorbell. Maybe they had painted the house that week. The woman who answered was her mother. She gasped when she saw me, while I asked her if her daughter was home. I needed to speak to her immediately. I had the most wonderful news.

    “Oh my gosh,” she said, opening the door a little so I could come in. “Where have you been? And why are you calling me by my mother’s name?”

    I followed her eyes to the large wedding photo decorating the wall of the living room. It was a photo of my love as a bride, and the groom was another man. Then my eyes dropped to the baby stroller in the hallway next to me.

    This wasn’t her mother. It was my love, many years older.  Where had all the years gone? I’d worked so hard to have the life I wanted, to be able to have the freedom to buy her everything she wanted, to give her the life she wanted. And now, she was married to someone else.

    I thought of all the money in my bank account. I had everything and I had nothing.

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  • How to Create Success in Your Life

    How to Create Success in Your Life

    Are you the hero or the villain in your own story? Most people want to be the hero but it doesn’t always turn out that way.

    Sometimes, you’re the villain. You become your own worst enemy when you tell yourself you can’t do something and you won’t succeed. But how do you defy that inner voice and outperform your expectations?

    It’s easy to face a challenge we’ve conquered before. But how do we outperform ourselves?

    The answer comes from a formula I learned in writing class. It applies to real life, too—it’s not just the stuff of fiction. But you might be thinking, it’s not possible to make your life turn out EXACTLY the way you want it to be!

    Well, the outcome depends on the decisions you make now to achieve that success in life that you’re looking for. Here are the first three steps to take.

    Daily writing prompt
    Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.
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    Step 1: Embrace Change

    Which would you rather be: a famous hero or an anonymous one? Everyone has their preference. Maybe you don’t even want to be famous and that’s okay. But are you happy with your life the way that it is? What would you do if you had a chance to make a change?

    Change sometimes happens, even when we want to avoid it. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe you’re now a parent (and no one is really ready for that). You’re on a different journey than expected. What will you do now?

    Don’t be the voice of self doubt. Your doubts are your enemy. Try the following tips instead:

    1. Focus on one goal.

    Use the K.I.S.S. method (Keep It Simple, Survivor!). Each day, decide on one thing you want to accomplish and get that done. Go for a 15-minute walk. Clean one room of your home. Learn one new thing from one YouTube video.

    2. Challenge yourself.

    Don’t accept things as they are. If you lose your job, find another one. (That suggestion is obvious, but the hard part is staying motivated to do this.) You can change your world the way it is right now. Be ready to climb a steep mountain though. Change isn’t easy.

    Step 2: Define Your Journey

    Your ability to succeed and achieve your dreams depends greatly on your choices. It becomes your identity. 

    But what if you want to change where your life is headed right now? For example, if you want to change your career, you could take these steps:

    1. Upgrade your skills.

    You can take courses, watch free videos, network with people, get advice and information, or find a mentor. This advice also applies to other aspects of life, like improving relationships and improving at hobbies.

    2. Change your situation.

    Change is good. If your career isn’t headed in the right direction, consider changing jobs. If life isn’t what you expected, make new friends, visit new places, or change your focus.

    Step 3: Define Your World – Create Your Boundaries

    Creating your world may sound like fiction. In this case, it isn’t. Like they say, the world in your mind is the world you project on your reality.

    If your inside voice – that voice of doubt – says you can’t do it, then the reality is you won’t. (Not saying you can fly if you put your mind to it – just saying if you set attainable goals, you can attain them.) So how will you see your world when you wake up tomorrow? How can you apply the following tips to define your life?

    1. Adapt to a new reality.

    If your circumstances change, make adaptations so your new reality will work out. If you get a pay cut, adjust your budget and set goals to improve your situation.

    2. Grow stronger and build on what you have.

    How can you build on your current skill set? What skills can you improve to do your current job more effectively? Do you have skills that are transferable to a new career?

    Summary

    You might not be a superhero, but you are still the hero on your journey. Your skills and mindset define the boundaries of your world and the path you’re headed for your future. We are like the heroes we read about in books and watch in movies.

    Challenge yourself to complete a goal, upgrade your skills, or redefine yourself. Heroes don’t achieve great things by staying comfortable. So, what is your next big step in your journey? Comment below.

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