I’m not a big fan of holidays, as they’re generally manufactured by people with social control agendas… On the other hand, I love holidays for the excuse they give us to hang out with the people who are special to us, spreading a little happiness and love in a world that keeps insisting on giving reminders of how twisted humanity can be. So: Happy Easter to those who celebrate–sharing blessings is always worthwhile, and Zen to Zany came up with a good one for today, that’s appropriate across denominational divides.
🙂
In keeping with the inspirational nature of sharing blessings, hubs also shared a good post that collects as diverse a group of thinkers as I’ve ever seen to list 20 transformational quotes. The theme of contrasting fear and love is consistent, as is the necessity of finding the inner path to openness. Which makes the article I found about why playing it safe is a bad idea all the more pertinent. (Not that I will be changing my mind about a motorcycle–I like my two Priuses too much.)
With those injunctions in mind, and recognizing that my ideas about planning seem to inspire the gods to grand hilarity, I’m still going to go out on a limb and set myself some goals. As this round takes us to the end of June, there will be two distinct phases of my goals, since I have the firm commitment to the writers’ workshop through the end of this month.
- Complete critiquing requirements for writers’ workshop (final = 4/25);
- Complete re-write of Red Slaves book 1 for re-release 5/15;
- Complete Red Slaves book 3 for release by the end of June;
- Continue walking at least 5 times per week for a minimum 10 miles;
- Study for and pass the PMP exam;
- Carve out at least one stay-at-home date night with hubs per week; and
- Post 3 more book reviews.
As I look at that list… It seems audacious in the extreme. Yet I have to say the critiques from my fellow workshop participants that I’ve been able to follow so far on what I’ve done in the Red Slaves series have been meaty, useful, and inspiring. I suspect they may be the prod necessary to push me across the finish line. At the same time, I see big changes on the horizon at the day job, and Gayla has also committed to releasing Discord Jones book 5 in less than two weeks, so I’m up to my eyeballs with those editing duties as well. Hubs has also submitted the last of his paperwork to open up his acupuncture practice in Virginia, so we’ve been feverishly developing all the necessary marketing collateral, too.
So I’ll keep reminding myself to count all my blessings and enjoy each of the moments I’m given, understanding that I have made these choices based on that classic Constitutional right (injunction!) for The Pursuit of Happiness. (Remind me of that, when life overwhelms me again…)
May we all come out on the other end transformed by our experience, and deeper in love with the lives we’ve chosen for ourselves. In the meantime, check out the other ROW80er’s goals, and I’ll be back again next week recounting what successes and failures I’ve faced.