Goal Check: June 2013

Hey all! I still haven't had a chance to sit still and download those pictures, but I will be doing it this weekend. Definitely. Today I went to a chiropractor's appointment, so needless to say, I won't be moving around much.

In the meantime, since today is the last weekday of the second quarter, I'm going to check my progress on my goals.

Writing: 

Continue querying Doorways. 

Sold Doorways in March. Now editing. 

Finish the draft to Guardian. 

Will be working on this in July. 

Rewrite: 

Don't Look Back

(Working Title) Otto

(Working Title) Guardian

Maybe finish the draft sequel to Doorways: Unlocking. 

All of the above postponed in favor of me writing two or more rough drafts while finishing the edits to Doorways. 

Reading: 

Just to read more. I'm going to go easy on myself and aim for 25 books for the whole year. Any genre or classification. Crits not included because I consistently fail to keep count of them. 

Currently at 30 books. Going strong to read 50+ this year. 

Life: 

Keep working on my voice. 

Doing this, but it's a bit difficult with the recent bout of flu's I've been getting. 

Get back to guitar lessons. 

This one's unlikely to happen. I'm just too busy at the moment. 

REALLY to take French and Italian, since it will be useful to my day job. 

Focusing on getting some reading done in French. Hopefully this will be enough to help me pick up the language. See above for why the lessons aren't happening. 

Exercise regularly. This includes activities like gymming, fencing, dancing, yoga or any combination of such activities. 

Started fencing and yoga. 

Eat and cook healthier food. 

Done. I'm pretty much at a point where I can say this a lifestyle. 

Make a point to meet more people with whom I have things in common. Sort of feeling tired of having my real life conversations ending in blank stares. 

Yeah... uhm... this one isn't quite happening yet. I really should get out more. Sigh. 

I also want to paint more. Maybe even finish an exhibition's worth of art?

This I want to do, but the fact that fencing is on the day I used to paint on complicates things. 

That's it from me. How are you doing with your goals? 

Pictures are Forthcoming

I really wanted to write something with a bit more substance today, but for some reason, I'm just not able to corral my thoughts into enough order to manage.

Probably because I really want to write. Odd, yes, but that's me. When I want to start writing, my mind becomes a huge mess until I get a few words down and my thoughts fall back into some sort of pattern.

So yeah. No serious post from me today. Just a promise that I WILL be putting up some photos of my Europe trip. Things are finally settled down enough for me to download and edit my pics. So hopefully I'll have them done this week. At the latest on Friday.

Otherwise, that's it for me.

Do any of your hobbies/passions turn your thoughts into spaghetti?

De-stressing

Things are sort of rushed and quiet at the same time. Rushed in that a hundred and twenty things need to be done, usually with some sort of urgency.

Quiet because... well... there aren't all that many new developments in my life. Probably because I've been so busy lately.

That and the fact that I've caught a flu YET AGAIN. Almost shook that off now. So much so that I'm finally singing again. It's such a relief.

I also did a short yoga session with a lady who's in church with me. Maybe not the best idea when I might or might not be sick, but I just had to find a way to get rid of some stress that's been building for a while.

I'm glad to sing and do yoga again, since at the moment, even editing can be an additional source of stress. Before, writing and editing was just something I did to relax. Now though, I know that there's an obligation tied to my deadlines. People are waiting for me to finish so they can do their work.

Which means I basically need to do as much as possible to stay calm and stress-free.

Hopefully, the yoga and singing will help. And waiting while my editor works through my newest revision.

What do you do to de-stress?

Knowing when to rest

One thing (of very many things) I love about God is that He gives us the strength we need to go on.

This can be for anything. From achieving our goals to just getting through a seemingly impossible week. He's always there, ready to give a boost when we need it. Often, all we need to do is ask.

Recently, I've been learning something else about Him. And by extension about me.

You see, He's been telling me to chill out.

I pray for Him to take away my migraines, He tells me to take time away from my computer. (I have been making a habit of 18 hour days in front of the screen.)

I pray to help me with my exhaustion, He tells me to rest. To do something different. To go take a breath of fresh air.

I pray about this scary time in my business, He tells me to stay calm. He's taking care of it. All I need to do is do little bits at a time and everything will be okay.

He also tells me to turn off the noise. Silence can be so good for us. The calmness that (eventually) comes with it renews us.

And right now, after a rather hellish weekend of short sleeps, He's telling me to stop everything I'm doing and just go sleep. You know, I really need it. So I'm posting this, turning off the lights and my computer. And then I'm (hopefully) going to sleep like a stone.

Has God told you or been telling you to chill out?

Just a quick hello...

So... it looks like the prayer week idea fell flat after all. But hey. That's fine. It's something I tried and even if no one was interested, I still feel better for trying.

But yeah... I don't really have much in the way of a post now.

No real news at the moment, since recovering from the break-in at the office means that my life is pretty much dominated by work.

And since I don't write about work on my blogs, I fear I shall be boring.

As for the photos of Europe. They are still on their way. Just hadn't had time to download them after the break-ins.

So yeah. That's me for today. Hopefully I'll be able to write something a bit more interesting on Friday.

How are you doing?

A Week of Prayer

Hi all!

Today, I have something weighing on my heart. Still, I'm a little scared, since I'm worried that this will fall flat.

Still, I believe that God puts things in my heart when He wants me to do them, so I'm taking a leap of faith.

I'm making this week a Week of Prayer, and I invite you to join.

Today, I want you to look at your life and decide what you need a prayer for. This can be anything, one thing or ten. From needing a blessing, to your children, to you going through a tough time.

Then, from today to Wednesday, I'll have a linky list open. Write a post about what you need prayers for and link directly to that post. That way, it'll be easy for your prayer-buddy to find your prayer needs.

After midnight GMT on Thursday, go to the link left by the person directly above you. If you're number 1, go to the last name on the list. That person is your prayer buddy for the week.

Pray for your buddy until Friday. Someone else should be praying for you too.

Finally, on Friday, I'd like to read about your experiences. Was there some sort of break-through on those things you needed prayers for? How did you feel, praying for someone else? Any other things you learnt this week?

That's pretty much it. Simple in theory, but who knows. Maybe this will make quite a big difference to quite a few lives. Now I leave it to you, if you want to join.