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!

Favorite Quote – Nanowrimo Instagram Challenge

Todays challenge is favorite quote, but this would have to be one of the hardest challenges. I LOVE quotes. They often form the basis of what I post. My favorite quote changes as I grow and stretch along my journey.
The quote that I have lived my life by is “And it came to pass.”
No matter what happens in our life, it will either come to pass or the way we look at the challenge will come to pass.
When we change under the pressure of what burdens us, we move forward. I confess, sometimes the pressure was on for sometime before I was able to move forward.

Quote for Today
“And it came to pass.” – ubiquitous biblical quote.

Meditation
Whatever is troubling you, hold it out. Think about the worst scenario. Now think about the best possible outcome. Whatever happens, you will find a way to cope as you accept this thing has happened or, will happen or may happen. Hand it over to God. Stand in his amazing presence. You are not walking alone. It may take time. Acceptance is the first hurdle.

Writing
I have found a name for my fictitious town. Volcano Harbour and the closest city Te Taone (Maori for The City). I’m hoping this will be an acceptable name as Maori give the name of a place as a precious gift.

Nanowrimo is nearly here. Excitement and fear are building among writers. Look at it this way. If you don’t make the fifty thousand word challenge, whatever you do write is more than you started with. One time my story stopped at thirty two thousand words and I discovered it was a novella, not a full blown story. My characters refused to budge, no matter how hard I tried.

The background photo is from a wall of T L Travers Mary Poppins, from when we visited Maryborough, Queensland, Australia.

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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.

Plot Twist- Nanowrimo Instagram Challenge

Todays challenge is for mystery and thriller writers. Readers love working it out, but they love a good twist, whether they see it in advance or not – because the author must give clues leading to the end result.

Quote for Today
“When something goes wrong in your life just yell ‘Plot Twist’ and move on.” – Molly Weisf

Meditation
“Above everything else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Pr 4:25

Writing Today
The writing took a back seat. It happens. I met with a group of writing friends. Such an encouraging and positive experience.

Nanowrimo has helped many successful writers get their career started.

The background photo is of the newest family members. Five little kittens joined us yesterday morning.

Your Favorite WordNanowrimo Instagram Challenge

Love
Love is one of my favorite words. Wear the garment of love because it goes with everything else you wear.

Love is the answer to so many questions, even the big ones like world peace and caring for our environment.

Todays quote is the essence of every successful love story.

Quote for Today
“I saw that you were perfect and I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect and I loved you even more.” – Angelita Lim

Meditation
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. … Love never ends.”

Writing Today
Exploring brother – sister relationships, one I never had the privilege of having.

Nanowrimo is digital for the second year in a row. Prior to that, writing groups met locally.