Finding The Positives In Negatives

Introduction

Earlier this year I listed some of my stories that had had a lot of reads but very little contact from other Vocal Creators.

My top three stories are still the same, although two and three have swapped places, but you can see though they have a lot of reads, there are not many hearts from other Vocal Creators. I know my close friends always read my pieces but this is what the point of this article is.

The music I have included is "Negativland" by Neu! because while we are in a sort of negative land here we are looking at it from a new (neu) perspective to find positive aspects here.

So Positives From Negatives?

I do get a little upset when I feel ignored by Vocal judges and moderators, but I soon snap out of it when I see the huge swathes of love and encouragement that I get from my Vocal audience and friends, and to be brutally honest Vocal has changed my life by bringing me into contact with so many special Creators who have supported me through my creative journey so I have to say, despite all my complaints:

A BIG THANK YOU VOCAL FOR ALL YOU HAVE GIVEN ME

So back to the premise of this. That last statement shows what I feel about the platform even though it has many faults.

I do hate my most-read story. I could delete it, but it is the only one I have with over a thousand reads. The other thing is it has resulted in a few cups of coffee for me, but I am watching the second and third-place stories keep getting reads so I am looking forward to them one day being my most-read story and that will make me more happy.

One analogy I always give for taking positives from apparently negative situations is just missing a bus. I know people who get angry if this happens and sit and simmer and complain about the bus service.

I see it as an opportunity to walk to the next bus stop which is good for my fitness and may result in a cheaper bus fare, a small positive but a lot better than getting angry.

While seeing many of my stories sitting on one or two reads, the positive that I take from them is that I got them published and they are part of my ever-evolving and growing body of creative work. Who knows one day people might see them and read them.

One of the other things is that my Vocal creations have provided me with five anthologies that have sold reasonably well on Amazon. I always wanted to publish a book, and though they are self-published, once again, Vocal and a little correspondence with my great friend Les resulted in me succeeding in something that I had wanted to do all my life.

I know I have complained that many of my stories should have been placed in challenges or been Top Stories and then seen them beaten by stories that don't even meet Vocal's criteria, but that is the way of the world, and look to the verdict of my friends and audience and I know that I have succeeded.

This is one example that I always share, 42 hearts, 31 comments, 70 reads admittedly a year old but not rated by Vocal, but Vocal allowed me to write it and share it, and that is the success.

Conclusion

I hope that this has given you some ideas on how to find something positive in negative situations. I know sometimes you do hit brick walls but most of the time you can lift something from the wreckage.

This week I was sitting watching TV and heard a resounding crash coming from the back, thinking someone had thrown a brick through the window.

In the Kitchen we have a display dresser and the plastic lugs on the top shelf had sheared, also causing the shelf below to break leaving shelves and broken glasses against the glass doors. After the initial shock, I carefully opened the doors and cleared the broken glass (luckily only four of about twenty were broken), then wondered what to do. The plastic lugs did not look very strong, so I took a walk out and got some metal screws and replaced the plastic lugs.

So the positives?

I now have a sturdy, safe glass display cabinet, got a walk out, and now have the ability to fix any similar situations.

Thank yu so much for reading.