Like many of you out there, I made new years resolutions, some of which I've
kept into February and others I ruined by the first week of January. (Damn you
chocolate!) Of course, my goals were to improve my health, increase my completed
published works catalogue, and bring about world peace...okay maybe not that
last one. Maybe more getting all my laundry done on the same day, but it's a goal.
Now it's March.
I don't know about you, but there are days where I don't want to keep my
resolutions anymore. It's not that I like the piles of clean laundry on my couch
or the fact the kids keep having sandwiches for dinner, but geez, this keeping
the resolutions list going can be exhausting some days.
In my first book, WEIGHTING
FOR MR. RIGHT, the heroine Megan Sayla starts her year off by hiding out in
the men's bathroom of a carwash after running away from her own wedding. With no
real plan, all she knows is her life can't keep going on they way she's allowed
it. Change must occur, otherwise she'll make the worst mistake of her
life and spend the rest of her days trying to make it work.
She's not unlike many of us. We start off the beginning of the year with the
hopes that this year will be better than the last, but how many of us actually
do something different?
How many of us are willing to put the work in to make our worlds different?
How many of us are still working on it in March? Research has shown that people
can stick with something for about three months. (I don't know what researcher
did this, but I know I heard trainer, Bob Greene say it on an episode of Oprah.)
Is it insanity to expect change?
What's the quote by Albert Einstein? Insanity is doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting different results.
We all do this. Want for something amazing to happen and do absolutely nothing
different, until one day, we're forced into a situation where we must make a choice.
Grrrrr, that's a hard thing to do change, but that's what makes chaos, conflict,
and something worth chasing.
And it takes motivation and desire to keep going.
Something that makes us look at things differently and that may improve our
lives. The fact we like the small changes and the progress we're making more
than we want to turn back and give it up.
That's the beauty of being a writer. I love creating so many different
characters and situations. Whether it's in my romantic comedy WEIGHTING FOR MR. RIGHT or
my romantic suspense DEEP IN
MY HEART, I love seeing my characters in conflict and finding a way through it.
My main conflict is finding the time. Along with being a writer, I'm a mom of
four, wife, volunteer, and active in my local writer's group. Time is my
conflict because I'm always trying to balance it to make sure I can get not only
all I've mentioned and be creative.
It's not an easy thing to do, throw all these balls up in the air and hope I
keep hold of them enough to be productive, but I welcome the challenge.
Just like I welcome ideas and possibilities for my characters and the spin-offs
that are inevitably going to occur as I write.
My goals for 2014 are simply to face those creative challenges and those
conflicts head on and create more brilliance than I did in 2013.
Plus, I want to get all my laundry done, folded, and put away on the same day.
Crazy talk, I know and it's a work in progress, but I'm getting there.
Some days are better than others, but I'm working better at it and like the
direction I'm going. What does Dory say?
Just keep swimming....just keep swimming...
YouTube
So, were your plans for 2014?
Still sticking with them?
If not, what's stopping you from picking up where you left off and keep going?
4 comments posted.
I decided that this year I was going to take the time to take my day, and construct it, so that I get more things done with my time. So far, I think I've been pretty successful. I have a lot of plans in the works, and a lot of things to get done, so until they all get done, my day is going to be planned in the way I've set out, and I feel good about my new life this year!!
(Peggy Roberson 11:03am March 20, 2014)
I have stopped making any resolution. I realize that I can't keep them due to a family member who loves to have everything on her time.
(Kai Wong 9:47pm March 20, 2014)
Good job Peggy. If you've stuck with it to this point, you're probably in it for the
long haul.
Glenda, good move. Sometimes it's better to keep things less complicated.
Kai, i'm so sorry you're going through that. I know that's so incredibly frustrating.
(Patricia Fischer 2:52pm March 23, 2014)