100 Words
Do I Do, Or Do I Don’t?
Thrifty Words 100 #4: Internal Struggle
Last week I asked you to think about satisfaction. What does and doesn’t satisfy you.
This week I’m thinking of internal struggle.
I’ve been struggling with several things this year. Do I continue working on my book even though it is causing emotional dissonance? Do I actively look for employment even though I stopped working outside the home for mental health reasons? Do I drink that wine? Eat that cake? Do I feel better in the moment or strive for the long game?
I’ve also been struggling internally with this particular theme challenge. The 100 words challenge isn’t getting much traction. I’m not sure whether I want to continue wracking my brain to come up with challenges if so few people are interested. I’ve gone back and forth recently. Do I do, or Do I don’t?
I feel I’ve made a commitment to you, dear writers. I hate breaking commitments. I feel guilty. Guilt is a heavy emotion. So heavy that it answers the question, “Do I do, or do I don’t?” with a resounding DO!
So, without further ado, your 100 word theme challenge:
What types of internal struggles do you face? Are you stuck in a toxic relationship and struggling to find a way out? Do you want to leave but need to stay? Are you struggling with a dead-end job? You want to quit but can’t afford to? Are you struggling with the decision to put your parent in a nursing home? You know they would get better care, but you would feel ashamed.
Internal struggles can be vast and myriad. They can be big or small.
What kinds of internal struggles do you face? What outcomes have you, ultimately, chosen?
Internal Struggle. 100 Words. Go!
Submission guidelines
Remember, in order to be considered for the challenge, you need to write exactly 100 words (contractions such as ‘you’ll’ and ‘y’all’ count as one, as do articles ‘a’ and ‘the’ ‘and all 23 auxiliary verbs ‘am’ ‘is’ ‘are’ etc. Hyphenated words count as one word.)
Please use the kicker 100 WORDS and ‘Thrifty Words 100 Challenge #4: Internal Struggle’ as your subtitle and submit by 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, 19 February. All stories submitted by the deadline will be released the following morning at 6 am EST.
A reminder: we will only publish one story per author to the roundup. If you submit more than one story, it is most likely that the first story submitted will be chosen for the roundup. You may submit 100 Word stories outside of the theme challenge anytime. They will be published in the Thrifty Words section but not included in the theme challenge roundup.
Don’t forget to include your Twitter handle at the end of your story
Jonica is a writer, rancher, painter, and poet. For the past ten years, she has been living and working on a ranch in Texas with her husband, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 2 goats,12 sheep, 5 chickens, 1 llama, and 2 turkeys. She writes about all of this and her many, varied life experiences. Jonica is a mental health advocate and shares her experiences in the hopes of de-stigmatizing mental and emotional conditions. She does not like the words “mental illness”, “disorder”, and “should” among many others. Jonica is a proud POM-poet and a Very Bad Influence where she sometimes edits stuff.