Spend less time getting riled about choices people make, and spend more time in prayer and the Word. Then address those local problems where you can have influence, and leave alone those that you can't do anything about, like news.
I'd remind my younger self that ever since William Randolph Hearst, the news cycle has been geared toward doomscrollling and often feeds on negativity - even to the point of inciting riots and war (e.g. the Spanish American war). Be informed, be involved, but don't get caught up in others' insatiable desire for drama.
As a young 'un, I imbibed the lesson that if I wasn't manually typing words at 6 a.m. (shivering in an attic), while eating beans on toast, that it would never be counted as a successful profession. The emphasis on mind-melting hard work, endless rejection, and daily habits drowned out any of the joy of creativity.
Now that I know there are as many types of writers (personalities, influences, styles) as people, it's not surprising that many took their time. Leo Tolstoy took five years to write "Anna Karenina", which began as a novella but was published as a series. Charles Dickens was a series writer, and it shows in some of his work. J.R.R. Tolkien took 17 years and 'many pains' to turn out the "Lord of the Rings" series.
Stephen King threw out his first draft of "Carrie", which was rescued from the bin by his wife. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote "The Great Gatsby" in a matter of weeks.
It can be a career or a profession. It may not always be counted as a success, and sometimes the author may hate their creation (Agatha Christie was not fond of her 'fussy' detective, Hercule Poirot.)
Reading books from a young age. I was digging into "Anne of Green Gables" by age seven, mainly because someone said it was too advanced. 'I'll prove them wrong' became a lifelong refrain.
I've been writing in various ways since I was six years old. Sometimes cranky and coerced 'thank you' notes to grandparents (saved and laughed over for many years), sometimes dark and horrifying sci fi shorts - poetry in my late 20's - just about anything.
It sounds corny, but you have to have at least 3 to 5 people cheering you on in the process. Very few people write well with threats of doom and dismal failure hanging over their heads.
Winston Churchill (who lived under threat of bankruptcy), Benjamin Franklin, and Anthony Trollope were able to write and publish while holding down full-time work, but they were definitely exceptions.
Like I want to crawl into a corner until the hubbub dies down. I have to say 'thank you' and mean it, but it does not make the process of recognition easier.
