Inspiraton

Have you ever had a moment of pure inspiration?  Yesterday, I did.  I was in Insanity at the YMCA, and these guys in the front were doing tucks, donkey kicks, and frog jumps almost up to the ceiling.  Meanwhile, I was in the back of the class, raising my knees up and down because anything that involves jumping makes me want to vomit. Well, watching them, I thought, "How hard can that be?"  They inspired me to try it, and when I did it HURT.  It was hard, not something that comes easily, but I was proud for having tried.  After all, if I hadn't tried I would never know if I could do it or not.

I don't know exactly when my moment of inspiration came for me, in regards to my writing.  I have been doing it since I was seven years old; jotting stories down on paper. When I was little, I was obsessed with the Civil War, with boy babies, and with triplets.  You can imagine how my stories read.  But even if something comes so easily for you, it doesn't mean it's easy to get where you want with it.  For the longest time, I wouldn't let anyone read my work. I had a phobia of criticism.  I still feel feel that way. I have this need to know whether the work is good or not, but I'm at the point where I know I need the criticism in order to make myself a better writer.  If my audience doesn't like something, then they may just stop reading, and I don't want that.

Yesterday, I was surfing the net, and I came across this article: 25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author. I laughed as I read this, but part of it made me want to cry.  Writing stops at number 5 or 6, and the rest is about how to land an agent, how to edit, what to do with your work.  There is so much to do after the ink stops flowing, it can be overwhelming or it could be inspiring.  Okay, so maybe inspiring is taking it a little bit far.  I mean, "Can a rejection be inspiring?" It could, if it pushes you to send your work to 50 more agents until you finally get a yes.  It could if the agent writes you a personal note, inspiring you to keep writing, or to change it up, or to toss your current book and start on another.  Inspiration comes in the funniest of ways.

Until then, I'm going to keep editing, keep writing, and keep sending out to agents.  One day I'll be discovered if I'm persistent. I'll follow the rules above, and I'll keep reading and writing: making myself a better writer.


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Find Your Passion

I just spent half an hour searching the house for my iPhone headphones.  Half an hour.  My guess is that one of the little people who live with me has taken them.  I used to have two sets, so if one was misplaced (as is often the case in the disorganized world I live in) I'd have the other pair to wear. 

I finally decided it was getting too late in the morning to run and that looking for my headphones was not productive.  I needed them, because I'm doing this training program on RunKeeper and today I was supposed to do an 8x1 run: 1 minute Steady then 1.30 minutes Slow, Repeat 8 times for a total of 20 minutes.  I needed RunKeeper to tell me when to slow and when to go "steady."  I'm going to have to search the kids' rooms tonight, find my headphones, and then run.  I have to stay on my schedule.  It's my goal for the New Year.

One of my co-workers told me about a Kid's Marathon that W K Upchurch is sponsoring near us.  I went on the website yesterday, and I registered Number One (without asking him--how's that for parenting?).  I think this is such a great idea to get kids active.  They run or walk the first 25 miles on their own, leading up to the race day.  There's a sheet that can be printed off and filled in to show they've completed their 25 miles.  On race day, they (along with one parent) run the remaining 1.2 miles.  They receive a medal and the satisfaction of knowing that they've "completed" a marathon.  Such a great idea!!!  I'm excited to take Number One out running with me now. 

And speaking of Number One: He finally received his ultra-expensive gymnastics's uniform, and boy was he proud of himself!  He claims this is a Level 5 uniform.  He's a Level 4, but his coach says he will definitely move up after this season.  He can pretty much already do the back handspring.  He's just perfecting it.

 

 

And yes, the muscle pose is his typical pose.  So proud of my guy and how far he has come over the last year.  He's really found his motivation, and has made himself happier.  When you have a challenging child, you always worry about their mental well being.  I'm starting to worry less and less about Number One, as I see him dedicate his life to a sport he loves, making good grades, and starting to make the right choices. He's found his passion in life. I'm just wondering how the 8 years passed by so fast.

 

I remember when he was 6 months old telling my Mom I couldn't believe how fast the time went by, and she laughed at me and said, "You'll be saying that in a minute, but he'll be 20." And she's right.  Time moves too quickly to waste even a minute of it not doing what you love.  I've realized that this year, and I've poured my heart back into writing.

 

What's your passion?

Never EVER Give Up

My mantra this year is to never give up.  If you don't give up you can achieve your goals, one step at a time. 

This morning, since I woke up at 4:24 AM hacking up a lung, I decided to do a little mindless internet surfing.  I started out with good intentions, working a little bit on my novel, but I was sidetracked by too many thoughts swirling around in my brain.  Maybe I do have ADHD. 

A few fews back, one of my TKD instructors posted this video on one of my friend's pages:



I had not taken the time to watch it, but Friday night Miranda Grace told me I really NEEDED to watch this video.  It's amazing, she said.  She's right.  THIS IS AMAZING!

Here is a man, all odds against him, and he transformed his life!  How?  He had one person (ONE PERSON!) who believed in him, and he believed in himself.  He knew he had the power within himself to lose weight, become happy, walk again and even RUN again! 

People, that's all it takes, the power within yourself to transform your life.  Every single one of us has it.  It's just baby steps. 

This year I realized that, and I accomplished so many things that I thought I could never do.  I lost 55 pounds, I've written half a novel, I started running, I made my home a healthier and happier place.

NEVER GIVE UP!  If the man in that video can fight against all odds, then a normal person like me and you who wants to achieve something surely can too.  The power is within you.