National #bepositive Day is coming up!!!

December 6th, 2012 

is

National Be Positive Day!!!!

(I can't post any photos because blogger says I've used up all my space.)  :(

The lovely and enthusiastic Roybn Campbell and I decided that we all should celebrate this wonderful day by going on twitter at least once that day and saying something positive followed by #bepositive.  At the end of the #bepositive day, I hope you will friend all the people who joined in and maybe do some retweets to inspire some other people on Twitter.

I hope you will join us...in our positiveness on twitter.

You can succeed! #bepositive

You have many talents! #bepositive

Something good is going to happen to you today! #bepositive

So who's in???

Disclaimer: Robyn and I made up this national holiday, but we believe it needs to be one!

So please join us in trying to make December 6th a very positive day on the web.

You are awesome!!!!

 My awesome writing friend, Heidi Willis, shared a book that had been recommended to her during her residency.  Her post was so good it made me wanted to share it with you.

 Heidi wrote this amazing book (and me saying that is a lot because I'm not a huge women's fiction reader).  If you, anyone in your family, or a friend have ever battled with health questions you should read this book....It really and truly is wonderful.  My heart was full when I finished it.

You can check it out on Amazon.

(Oops, I got of topic.)

I think we all (writers or otherwise) struggle with accepting and acknowledging that we are good at certain things.  You Are Good At Things A Checklist points out that there are so many things a person can be good at.  I'm a firm believer in saying positive affirmations.  It sounds like this book is a great way to remind yourself that there are lots of things you are good at.(I'm going to order it on my next amazon order.)  Big or small recognizing your strengths is valuable.  You should remind yourself of all the things you are good at.

What are you good at?  

I'll go first?

1. I'm good at encouraging people.
2. I make a great cup of coffee.
3. I'm good at hosting parties.
4. I'm good at shoveling snow.
5. I'm good at decorating.

Your turn... 
(I almost forgot...The Writing Nut is hosting me over on her blog on July 25th.  If you have time to hop over that would be awesome.)

Sweet Dreams? Or Not?

 Nightmares are more common in children than in adults and when people are upset, worried, or distressed.

 Do you have dreams and/or nightmares? 

  Do you remember them? 

 Do you write them down for future writing projects?

(I've done this...)

If you are having troubling dreams it might make you anxious about going to sleep.  Some things you can do are tackle any problems that are worrying you before you go to bed, avoid diuretics, caffeine and too much alcohol before bed, establish a night time routine that involves winding down time, and remind yourself to relax and that it's not the time to worry.  Managing Your Mind recommends counting backwards or counting your breaths.  It also recommends tensing each of your body parts and relaxing until you have done your whole body.

On average adults sleep seven and a half hours.  But that can vary.  (Einstein needed more sleep than average and Churchill slept less.)

How many hours do you sleep at night?  I write best after a nap... (I don't dream when I nap, but I do at night...)

Confidence & How To Get It...

I have a confession...I've been struggling with my confidence just lately.  It's kind of strange because when I was a teacher I knew I was a good teacher.  My thoughts in that are validated by the students who stay in touch with me and occasionally come to me for advice.  But I stopped teaching about 6 years ago and have been searching for something I am good at ever since.  I want to be a great writer, but getting published is hard.  I have a few minor publications under my belt, but nothing major.  So how do I build my confidence back up?

I've been reading this wonderful book called Manage Your Mind by Gillian Butler and Tony Hope.  I thought I'd share some of the high points and my interpretations of the chapter I just finished.

• Recognize that you are confident in certain areas. (Don't focus on just one area of weakness.)
• Understand that people who appear to be confident all the time may not be as confident as you think.
• Work on gaining confidence by doing things. (Keep trying to get published in a variety of venues.)
• Use positive talk about yourself. (If you tell people you are no good, they might believe you and you will believe it.)
• Practice having confidence.(Pretend you are in a play and you are the confident charming character that everyone loves. I do this all the time at conferences.)
• Learn from your mistakes, but don't let them define you. (What's done is done, and move forward.)
• Don't allow yourself to use negative self talk. (Speak encouragingly to yourself, just like you would to a friend.)
• Always be kind to yourself. (Apply the same standards to yourself that you do to others.)
• Don't undervalue yourself. (I have a lot of trouble with this one. Recognize that you bring something to the table.)
• Do the best you can, but don't make yourself feel bad for not being perfect.  (Would you ditch a friend  because they weren't perfect?  I doubt it.)
• Spend time (real or virtual) with people who make you feel good.  (Remove negative influences from your life.  If someone is not bringing something positive to your relationship, then it's time to move on. Did you know you can hide people on Facebook, so you don't have to see their posts?)

Something I realized as I was writing this post is that you should treat yourself the same way you treat your friends.  Wow...(dramatic pause, cause a huge light bulb just went off in my head.)

On a positive note...My writing tip was chosen as the Tuesday Tip on Literary Rambles.  I am so excited that Casey and Natalie thought it was worthy of being on their awesome blog.  (Note the positive self /public talk here.)  

What do you do to keep your self confidence level up?  

Enjoy the Seasons...of Your Life

 (Lake Superior at Duluth, Minnesota)

(Not Sea Gulls... Lake Gulls???)

(How cool is this bridge?  The center slides up when a boat needs to pass through the canal.)

(Gooseberry State Park)

(Trees thriving in the cooler climate.)

(Guess what greeted us as we crossed the border?  Canadian Geese.  LOL!)

(We took a walk through some beautiful woods until we got to a historic fort.)

(A beaver fur top hat.  I always wondered what they looked like.)

(Thunder Bay, Canada...a view from the top of a mountain.)

(Amethyst can come in more than one color.  It gets its color from the iron and quartz in the soil.)

(We had big fun hunting for amethyst at this mine!) 

(I'm going to give away a couple pieces I found later this month.)

(Ouimet Canyon was spectacular!)

(It was formed by glaciers.)

(Visitors are not allowed in the bottom of the canyon.  Rare arctic plants grow there!)

(Then we took a quick trip to Bull Shoals Lake and to Branson, Missouri for some back to school shopping.)

************************

I promise I used restraint posting these pictures!  I took about 300 and only posted 18.  

************************

Have you ever been unhappy, I mean really unhappy?  So unhappy you just wanted to go...anywhere.

I have a cure for this feeling of doom and gloom.

Consider this time of your life as a season.  Seasons come and go.  They don't last forever. 

While you are in this season find ways to appreciate it for what it is.  Go out, make friends, exercise, start new traditions and look for the good in your situation.  

Because this is just one season in your life it WILL pass and you will move on to another season.  

I REALLY & TRULY think this is true...

If you are in a season that you aren't enjoying (start small, like noticing how nice the neighbors flowers are)  look for the joy of that season.  

As winter approaches here in North America, I'm reminding myself that those frigid blustery days (that are getting closer) do have beautiful moments that can be appreciated; sparkly snow, Macy romping around, quiet still nights and sometimes days, crisp clean beautiful landscape scenes, and the opportunity to stay home because of the weather.

Remember you can get through this, just like the seasons; this too will pass.

What is going on in this season of your life?

(((Hugs))) to all!

Simplify Your Life...and two contest links

There's always more than one way to look at a situation....

But, sometimes it seems that things are going against you.  It could be rejection letters, it could be your WIP has hit the wall, it could be your basement flooded twice and your favorite pet died.  (For those of you who are new to my blog...I had a not so much fun summer...) But, look at my lovely basement now!  It is clutter free and completely repaired!  We took the summer "fun" as an opportunity to simplify our lives....

I began in the basement, but soon moved to the kitchen, the garage , the guest bedrooms, my daughter's room (with her help of course), our room, including the closet, and I began The Great Declutter Movement.  In fact, we aren't done.  We've only just begun!  My husband was so inspired by the basement flooding that he built a wonderful set of shelves in the storage room and plans on building two more!  We are going to completely empty one of our guest rooms and I am going to have my OWN room to be creative in.  (I'm beside myself with excitement!)  I don't know how many truck loads of goodies I'll be donating to St Vincent DePaul's Thrift Shop, but I feel really good about it... 

Flooded Basement Twists Into A Positive:

*Helped out a worthy charity

*Did a project with my brilliant hubby

*Spent more time with daughter (because she couldn't go in the basement to watch TV all summer...)

*Basement repainted and reorganized

*The whole house is getting decluttered

*I'm getting my OWN ROOM (my first one since I was 17)!!!!!!!!

So, when you are struggling with a rejection or a negative in your life, twist it and into a positive....

Please feel free to share a time you have twisted a negative into a positive or if you are struggling with one right now maybe we can help you find a twist on the situation (My disclaimer: I am not, nor have ever been a medical doctor so I'm not promising anything, I'm just sayin' I'd like to listen and help if I can. I usually reply to your comments via email, so if you don't have your blogger set up showing your email I can't reply to you personally.)

*****

WARNING: TWO DAYS LEFT UNTIL CONTEST CLOSES!  If you are not following Dear Editor.com now would be the perfect time to start! They are holding a contest to celebrate being up and running for six months! It's a great place to go for advice and if you have advice it's nice to be able to share, too... So hop over and perhaps you could win a picture book critique!

****

Sheri over at The Writer's Ally is hosting a Freaky Fright Writing Contest with prizes galore!  If you don't know Sheri, you need to hop over and meet her, she's got great things going on all the time at The Writer's Ally! 

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Feeling Down???

Do you ever feel like you're never going to get what you want? 

 Sometimes it feels that way.  No matter how cute you are, or how talented you are nobody notices...

(It's enough to bring a peppy puppy down to her knobby knees.)

I know what I want...

 And I'm willing to do anything to get it...

 even beg, if I have too...

Because the payoff...is delicious!

Will you know what to do, if you get what you want?  (I'm talking about marketing strategies here people...)

Happy Writing, Friends!  I hope all of you get a big jar of happiness this week. 

Thanks for stopping in  everyone and a special thanks to Elana for hosting the Compelling Character's Experiment this weekend....

P.S. Amy's having a contest in honor of banned books week...so hop over and join in on the fun!

TREATS AND PLEASURES

Treating yourself to something special should not fill you with guilt.  (The squirrels at our cabin enjoyed the treats I put out for the birds and felt no guilt.)  So why is it as we get older treating ourselves or enjoying a simple pleasure can make us feel guilty? 

Is it such a bad thing to sit back and enjoy a beautiful day?  Even if you should be worrying about the flooded basement or the fact that you haven't been to the gym all week or written a single word on your novel this week... 

The fact is, it's okay to treat yourself.  It's a healthy behavior, but often hard to do without guilt.  I think it has a lot to do with being worried about looking frivolous (I love that word).  Life can't just be about work.  GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO HAVE TREATS!  Treats don't have to be expensive.  They just have to give you pleasure.  Look at my lovely onion...It is a treat for my family...and we appreciated it.  It was the first onion we've EVER grown.  Have you ever seen such a beautiful onion?  We hadn't.  We treated ourselves to taking the time to enjoy the beauty of our onion in the middle of

THIS:

I'd like to thank everyone for their supportive words over the last few days.  I'm one of those people who likes everything to be in its place, so the next few weeks are going to be a struggle for me.  This is my upstairs family room (the not flooded one) until the basement is restored to its prior condition (Servpro's words).  So, I'm going to be looking for some healthy "treats" to take my mind off this MESS.

In the middle of all of the excitement I reached a blog milestone.  I am  799 followers away from 1,000!  Which sounds like a reason to celebrate, right?  And what's a party without friends?  My blog buddy Jackee is only 796 people away from 1,000 followers.  Jackee and I will be announcing the beginning of our REALLY RANDOM PRIZE GIVE AWAY(s) next week...So be ready....It's going to be EPIC!

(I hope you will join us for some fun and some treats over the next few weeks! )

What do you consider a special treat???

RELAX A A TION...it's makin me wait...

Take a deep breath.  Hold it in.  Let it out slowly.  Tell your body to relax as you let it out.

Tighten up all of your muscles and then release them...Do one muscle group at a time...(Start at your toes!)

Relax your shoulders and breath in and out slowly...

You can do this...

It's summer...

Kick back, relax and enjoy the ride...

Stop rushing around...

Find relaxing things you like to do and make a habit of doing them...

The more you enjoy life, the more relaxed you will be...

(the more productive as a writer and human you will be.)

Don't worry about that query you sent out...write something else while you are waiting for a response...

Make a relaxation plan...and stick to it!

What do you do to relax?

P.S. I'm only 807 people away from having a 1,000 followers! Can you believe it? I'm totally stoked and have been thinking of what to do to celebrate when I'm K-800 followers. Well, we've come up with a plan...My daughter (now a high school freshman) and I decided to have a Really Random Prize Give-A-Way...one of EPIC proportion! It's going to be sooooo (I could add more o's) much fun for you, me and a committee of judges....

ARE PROCRASTINATION AND BEING OVERWHELMED RULING YOUR LIFE?

This is the third installment of my Life Management series. If you missed session one or two, follow the links to catch up.

What is important to you? What must be done immediately? What can wait? What can you skip? If you set up a regular daily schedule you will be more productive. Make time each day to determine what must be done and what items are not as important. Your scheduling time could be done before bed or first thing in the morning. (I do mine in the morning.)

1. Write out your daily schedule.

2. List all the things you must do.

3. List all the things you would like to do.

4. Rank each item. (I rank mine in groups. Example A-urgent, B- important but not mandatory to complete today, C-like to do, but no big deal if it doesn’t get done.)

5. As you go through the day, go back to your list and put a check by each item as you complete it.

You’ll be more productive and have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Obviously, you are not going to get to all of your B’s or C’s. So you transfer them to the next day’s schedule and re-rank them.

Assume you’ve been following your schedule and your life is now more organized. Your self-esteem and productivity are riding high. But then…

A friend calls and asks you to join a committee. What do you do? She’s your friend. It’s for her favorite cause.

First, is the cause important to you? What are you willing to stop doing in order to put this new activity in your schedule? Every time you insert something new into your schedule, you must eliminate something else…otherwise you will become overloaded and in turn be unable to do what’s already on your schedule.

The last tip of the day…Only do things once.

Little things that add up to wasted time. I get the mail and read the envelopes as I walk in. I open what is urgent, and then put it on the counter. The next day, I sort it into junk, bills, financial stuff or letters that need responses. I then put it in the bill pile, the banking pile, the trash/recycling, or on my schedule for me to deal with in the future. I have now touched the mail three times and haven’t dealt with anything except the junk mail. A better plan is to bring in the mail, sort immediately and get rid of the junk, file the banking information, put bills in the bill pile and deal with any other mail immediately.

Other example of wasted time are: bringing in the shopping and not putting it away immediately, not putting laundry away as soon as it is folded and ironed, reading emails and not deleting or dealing with them immediately.

In review:

1. Create a daily schedule and stick to it.


2. When you add something in your schedule, delete something else.


3. Don’t waste time by doing things more than once.

Now that I’m on a formal (written) schedule, I’m getting more accomplished, both in writing and homemaking.

Are you willing to try any of my tips? Do you have an organizational tip to share? (I’ll be unplugged for the next 8 days.) Have a great weekend and week.

SAD SUNDAY…MY OBITUARY

This is a segment TWO in my Life Management tips….

Have you thought about what you want people to say about you when you are gone? I’m not talking about vacation…I’m talking about your obituary.



There are probably three groups of people who will miss you: your family, your friends, and your co-workers. What would you like each group to say about you? I’ve been thinking about this. It might mean I need to do something different so these people will feel the way I want them to feel about me…It might mean working on myself...



SO HERE I GO….

Family: Sharon loved us. She was a devoted Mom. She helped her husband advance his career and loved him until the day she died. She tried to live her life in a manner that would make God proud.  She could be serious or silly, whatever the occassion required.  She was strong when our family went through hard times. She was a supportive sister and was good to her parents.



Friends: Sharon was fun to be around. She knew how to put on an event. I always left her parties feeling like I was the guest of honor. She was a great listener. She knew when to listen and  when to give advice.   She always remembered to say thank you and she always did favors without expecting anything in return.



Co-workers (including blogging friends) and former students: She inspired me be more than I thought I could be. She always was happy for other people’s successes. She never stopped being my friend, even when she moved away. She was always thinking of me…Out of the blue I’d get an email with a suggestion related to what I was writing, studying or doing in my classroom.



Cats: Who’s Sharon and where's my dinner?



Dog: Who’s gonna take a nap with me in the afternoon?



(Yep, I’ve got room to work.)



Don’t rush into posting a comment. This maybe something you just want to think about it and keep to yourself. The point of the post is…LIVE THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE REMEMERED. If I haven’t been there for you, yet, I’ll do better…Life is too short to have regrets.



BIG HUG TO ALL OF MY READERS AND THANKS…

WHAT'S GETTING IN YOUR WAY?

WHAT’S GETTING IN YOUR WAY?

How do you accomplish everything you need or want to do in a given day? Do you prioritize? Are you a list maker? Do you procrastinate? Have you ever thrown your hands up in the air? Once a week I’m going to post about life management. I hope you will join me and see if we can become more productive writers.



First: Make a master schedule…

(I’ll share mine with you.)



Monday, Wednesday, Friday



6:30-8:00 wake up, make lunch, feed and water pets, take dog out, have breakfast, dressed for

the gym, deliver daughter to school and myself to the gym (1.5 hours family)

8:00-11:00 workout (3 exercise) (T/TH 8-10 which gives me one extra hour)

11:00-12:30 run errands volunteer or take nap, lunch (1.5 chores)

12:30-2:45 write (2.25 hours)

2:45-3:15 pick up daughter from school (.5 family)

3:15-5:30 help with homework, do household chores, (write, if time) (2.25 family)

5:30-6:30 cook and eat dinner (1 family)

6:30-10:00 family and blog time (3.5 family)

10:00-10:30 read in bed (.5 writing, it’s always research)

10:30-6:30 Sleep (8 hours)



There are 24 hours in a day…



Current schedule:

• Sleep 8 hours (intended amount often read)

• Write 2.75 hours(intended amount, often doing chores instead)

• Family time 6.5 hours

• Chores & errands 3.75 hours (often more)

• Exercise 3 hours


My Daily Goals :

• sleep 8 hours

• write 4 hours

• family time 7

• chores & errands 2

• exercise 3 hours

How can I be more productive? It appears I’m spending too much time on errands, chores, volunteering and/or napping.



WHAT’S GETTING IN YOUR WAY? WHAT CAN YOU DO TO UTILIZE YOUR TIME BETTER?