I am soooo not athletic. The last time I went skiing, I got a concussion. And I was standing still! I fell over backwards, hit my head on the snow crust, and next thing I knew, the world was all flickering fairy lights.

I love to ride horses, too, but I fall off all the time. Really. I’ll be trotting along, having a great time, and all of a sudden the horse is gone. Just gone. For half a second, I’m sitting in thin air. Then I’m on the ground, and the horse is looking back at me like I’ve lost my mind.

I was explaining this to my son Brian, and he asked me a very perceptive question.

“So, when you’re doing stuff, do you see yourself falling?” he asked. “I mean, do you see yourself failing, or do you see yourself succeeding?””

Good point. I see myself falling when I walk down a flight of stairs, let alone when I’m skiing or horseback riding.

But maybe I just know my limits. When it comes to writing, I’m a little more confident. I have my Pulitzer Prize acceptance speech half-written, and I’ve planned my meteoric ascent of the New York Times bestseller list up to number one.

Good thing, too. With all the rejection writers face, it’s important that we believe. If I didn’t have unshakable faith in my own abilities and an unswerving belief I’d eventually succeed, that two-inch binder stuffed with rejection letters probably would have shattered my soul.

But that doesn’t mean I’d give up writing. Success or no success, the work is it’s own reward.

Skiing, though? I’m done.