Go From "WHY ME" to "THANK YOU"

by Lia Mack

In our busy lives, sometimes it doesn't dawn on us until later in the day that we didn't take time to acknowledge that we were given the gift of a new day. And, if you're having one bad day after the next, you might not even look at it as a gift. However, each and ever day is just that: a gift.

When we wake in the morning, most of us find it very easy to get distracted from this gift and be instantly overwhelmed, irritated, with all that we have to do. By simply taking the focus off of the you and pointing to others, we can feel the gift emerge from our ever growing 'to do' lists.

This day was given to you to be of service to others.

I find just saying that in the morning (and sometimes, many times throughout the day) helps me to refocus my purpose for living this day, this gift, to the fullest of my being. Especially when my energy reserves have been depleted - and it seems that the kids have just gotten their second, third, fourth, fifth wind - I catch myself before I become irritated and say, out loud, "I get to be of service to my children." This not only gives me the strength to do just that, it also gives me the perfect mental boost to remember that I am here for them, even though I may not feel like doing whatever they want or need me to do for the umpteenth time.

The same holds true for just about every situation in life, whether you are at work, with family or friends, just thinking this thought or saying it out loud, can help you change your focus from a why me to a thank you.

Thank you for this opportunity to be of service to others.


Honestly, it works. Try it today!



"One of the essential characteristics we need to learn [is] to be gentle, and to be gentle means to be serene, to enter meditation or a prayerful state in the morning and evening."
--Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA

The most important talk we can do during any day, is to start the day with prayer and meditation. We need to ask the Creator to be in our lives. We ask Him to direct our thinking. We ask Him for the courage and the power to be gentle. In the morning quiet time, we make our request for guidance using our spiritual tools. We pray for the people and we pray for ourselves. In the evening we thank the Creator for the day, for the lessons and for the opportunity to be of service to others. Then we go to sleep.

Great Spirit, today, show me the power of being gentle.

taken from "A Cherokee Feast of Days" by Joyce Hilfer

Take A Break

Between writing "THE END" and printing out my 1st draft, I am using Steven King's advice: take a break so you can come back to it fresh.

And I think this sort of advice can hold true in so many aspects of our lives. If something is dragging you down, isn't working, taking forever (hint, hint) - take a break!

So, in the meantime, I am reading: something I can't do while I'm writing (or I'll absorb the other author's voice and then my writing will sound like her's).

I've taken 2 weeks off so far... And it's been wonderful! I have such a pile up of books to read, but I know this break won't last long. All I can think about are the edits that I can't wait to make...yeah, that's right - I said it. I love to edit. You heard me say it, so when, in months to come, I blog about hating it you can point me back to the post! :)

So, take a break everyone....take a week off...a day...a month...come back to it fresh. With new eyes and a renewed spirit, even the impossible may not seem so daunting anymore.

"THE END": How completing the 1st draft is only the beginning...

I never knew when I'd type the words "THE END" when I set out to write my first novel. However, late in the afternoon on the last day of my self-made timeline, my self-proposed time when I wanted to be done with at least the 1st draft, it happened. And, oddly enough, it was pretty anti-climatic for me. Not exactly the reaction I had envisioned. And definitely not like when I hit the climax of the story.

I am happy, though. Don't get me wrong. I am elated that I actually finished something I had set out to do back in May of 2008: write a novel by the end of the year (ok, so I was a month late, but honestly. December? Noveling in December? I don't count December, or November for that matter, as part of the time where I can accomplish anything due to chaotic holiday fun...)

So...long story made short: I did it.

Partly.

Finishing - typing THE END - to the first draft of a novel equates with only the beginning of the very long and arduous task of editing, editing some more, sending it out critique groups, re-editing, writing a query letter, writing a synopsis, sending said query letter and synopsis out ot agents, getting rejected, editing said letter and synopsis, re-sending it out, getting more rejections, re-editing the entire novel to make it more to the liking of the agents/publishers/editors, re-sending out query letters...do you see where I'm going with this?

A first draft is only the very, very beginning of a very, very long and painful process. That's why out of the 100,000 would be writers out there that set out on this journey never get to the finishing line of having a novel published. Most die off during this stage in the process. But for those who don't, there is bounty to be had - you just have to have the drive, the passion, and the courage (aka: thick skin) to survive the constant beating of not only the novel you poured yourself into, but also every inch of your being.

But don't dismay. According to professional writers: you are not a Pro-writer until you get your first rejection. Isn't that great! And for the insurmountable rejections that you do get, you wont' get the one - the one that counts - until you've been rejected time and time again, forcing you to perfect what you already thought was perfect.

I mean, after all, it's your baby. What could be wrong with it, right?

Although I'm eager to become a 'pro' writer, I think I'll edit my baby at least 20 times. Yes, you read that right. Twenty times. Why? Because, quite frankly, it's crap right now. Although I want to get that first rejection - and the subsequent acceptance - I don't want there to be such a trail of laughter, name calling, and finger pointing following said rejection letter that I virtually give up from the embarrassment. No way! I want to at least give it my very best shot. That's why I'm going to edit it until I can't possibly see any need for change then send it off to be slaughtered. I want to give my baby the very best chance of not dying it's first journey out into the unknown.

What I am excited about, though, is printing out the bad-boy...I can't wait to feel the weight of what I've done in the palm of my hands. Seeing it on the computer screen, seeing how many bites of memory it saves as, who many pages it says it is, how many words - this doesn't mean a damn thing to me. I want to feel my baby in my hands so I can truly see, feel, what I've accomplished. I think that's the point in this journey when it'll feel real. Just like when I felt my little son, skin to skin, in my arms after he was born. Right now, it's too arbitrary, too abstract. I have a good imagination, but I just can't fathom it - or maybe I don't want to - until I see it and feel it with my own two hands. My life poured out into pages. My baby.

Then I'll start chopping away!

So, as the saying goes...endless editing...here I come!



Printing it out in eco-friendly fashion, as I am a true Eco-Warrior, I think I might test out an eco-printing service, or get a ream of 100% recycled paper, fresh and new, to print out my 698 pages (yes, I know, I know, it's too long...that's why I can't wait to start editing!! :)





I think I might look into eco-printing service Bacchuspress