The Best Use of My Time

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot” – Michael Altshuler

The end of year is looming at break kneck speed. Smell the roses? Put up a Christmas tree? Hurrying past the people in our lives, all but yelling “get out of my way”. Don’t these people know how busy we are?

And yet…

Once it was important to make time for family and friends. Not to rush to the next place. The next job. The next…whatever has our attention.

At the start of each year, do you set goals? Possible covering all the important areas of life:

Career and business
Finances
Education
Relationships
Health and fitness
Personal growth
Spiritual growth

When was the last time these were reviewed?
How are these goals tracking?

What if we squeezed ten minutes to take a look, now.

Celebrate the wins.

What if the order of these goals were reversed?

My goals have been partially realised, but I’ve been wondering what the outcome would have been if I’d begun with spirituality, personal growth etc.

A long time ago, we decided to get ready for Christmas a week early. And go camping.
Hardly anyone else was wherever we went. They were jostling shoulders with the maddening crowds while we soaked in the sun, read a book, played board games and splashed in the water, enjoy a campfire. Carefree. No hustle. No hassle. We returned home relaxed and ready to enjoy Christmas and our Christmas traditions.

Take time to chill out and celebrate this year’s wins. Its been a tough one very few people would have known to plan for. That makes all you have achieved special.

Go you!

Character Flaw – Nanowrimo Instagram Challenge

Todays challenge is about truth. We are all flawed and fall short of the person we want to be.
It’s hard for a writer to give their hero flaws. Or to give the villian a save the cat moment (a humane and kind gesture).
But perfect people don’t exist in real life and would be boring to read about.
Thank goodness for The Negative Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.

Quote for Today
“Stop trying to ‘fix’ yourself; you’re NOT broken! You are perfectly imperfect and powerful beyond measure.” – Steve Maraboli

Meditation
Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. Eccl 7:20

Writing Today
I woke up with the plot for Book 2 of The Cosy Mystery Trilogy, but it was several hour later when I arrived early for yoga, before I could scribble it down.

Nanowrimo is nearly here. It isn’t too late to think about writing a book. My first book was written with a rough idea, no plot whatsoever.
Authors show no one their first draft. It’s always the 2nd, 3rd or 22nd before its good enough to share.
But you can’t edit a blank page, whether it’s a manuscript or life.

The background photo is of the pretty Azalea’s in the Millbrook Reserve, Christchurch.

Be very kind to you today.

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Overheard dialogue – Nanowrimo Instagram Challenge

To overhear dialogue, one needs to be out and about, listening for ebb and flow. Conversation is interrupted. Laughter begins before the sentence is finished.

Some people have unique things, analogies, old adages said in a modern way. Write them down for later use (carry a notebook or use the one on your phone). Um, it’s a bit creepy to listen in on some conversations. This is for research.

A caveat here. Remember those who listen at keyholes hear nothing good about themselves. Be discerning and wise about what you record.

Quote for Today
“Well done is better than well said.” Old Addage

Write down all your great ideas when they arrive. And then stop talking about writing and actually do it.

Writing Today
Someone is sleeping in the Vicars office at the church. And someone is sleeping in Mrs Browns campervan. We finally find out who.

Todays background photo is blossom springing forth from the tree trunk.

Nanowrimo has volunteers all over the world who support writers in their area. Check their website for your closest local. With COVID everything is online again this year.

Lifehacks: Put Your House To Bed

Day 5

Today’s lifehack is: Put your house to bed each night, before you turn in.
It’s a pleasure to wake up to.
To do this, have a clean and shiny kitchen sink,
do a five minute declutter, throwing out or putting things away in the main living area.
There are heaps of YouTube videos on how to do this. Knock yourself out.

Quote
“Be the best version of your self.” – Unknown

Writing Today
I had my second COVID jab yesterday. It has left me with the mother of all headaches and I’ve been rather sleepy. So I listened to my body. Kept up the panadol, water and slept. No writing today. Completely missed the O’Dark Club.

October is InstaWrimo where authors post a photo from prompts.
Todays: Meet your MC.
Currently her name is Lauri (names often change by the end of the story. I use a name generator but sometimes the character doesn’t fit the name.).
Lauri is the wife of the local vicar. As she deals with empty nest syndrome and the death of her mother, she is given a companion dog named Teddy.

Todays photo is called Freedom.
It was our first motorhome on her maiden voyage. We escaped flooding for peace by the sea. In her we escaped earthquake after shocks. Eidlewize gave us freedom to reset our equilibrium. She was easy to put to bed at night.

Freedom to Escape and reset our Equilibrium

Lifehacks: Always Get A Receipt

Day 4

Today’s lifehack is: always get a receipt when making an eftpos transaction. It closes the sale and protects you from being scammed.

Quote
“Life’s too short. Be an Avid Reader” – Carron Stevenson Author

Writing today.
So I heard on The Self Publishing Author Show (SPF #291) an interview with Dan Clark from Brain:fm (not to be confusedwith Brian fm).
They provide music tailored to your brain and the work / tasks you do.
I gave writing a go while listening to specific tempo Classical Music. It worked! Nailed higher than usual word counts without breaking a sweat.
The sprint flew by.

October is InstaWrimo where authors post a photo from prompts.
Todays: Adventure
There’s definitely adventure in my cosy mystery and in life as we camp out and watch my daughter and her partners home get built.

What I’m Reading
I read several books at a time. Currently I’m reading:
1. On craft – The Relaxed Author by Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre
2. To Study – The Princess Spy by Larry Loftis
3. Self Improvement – Shades Of Light by Sharon Garlough Brown
4. For enjoyment – The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrew’s while I’m waiting for my next Lucinda Riley book to come from the library – currently in the Seven Sisters series.

5. With my grandsons – Playing For Pizza – John Grisham
6. Various versions of the Bible in my early morning meditation. I’m trying to bring in an evening reading, but I drop off to sleep.

Total books read this year (to date) 145 – started out aiming to read 50, but got carried away.

Todays photo:

is my cosy nest where I like to read in the evening. On a good day, I turn the pillows to the other end of the bed, open the rear doors and enjoy the view and sunshine washing in. Benji always claims his spot with me. The beautiful quilt was made by my lovely friend Rhonda. Her Instagram is @rhonda.robertson.925