Stay in the Light

Every day you spend drifting away from your goals is a waste not only of that day, but also of the additional day it takes to regain lost ground.
—Ralph Marston

Without dreams and goals, there is no living, only merely existing, and that is not why we are here.
—Mark Twain

I believe in the saying, ‘If you aim at nothing, you’re going to hit nothing.’ So if you don’t set goals, then you have nowhere to go.
—Taylor Lautner

It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.
—Benjamin E. Mays

I was on the way home from a therapy appointment after having had a bit of a break-thru, and the radio started playing “Stay in the Light,” by Honeymoon Suite. I took that as a sign – the words: Stay in the light, keep your target in sight really spoke to me. They became a kind of mantra.

I was thinking about this the other day, and then I wondered, what good does staying in the light do if you don’t really have a target? I was thinking, of course of my writing and how I didn’t really have a target, or goal.

Then I started thinking about it some more and I realized that’s not entirely true. I do have goals. I want to finish Elemental Spirit, I want to put out a poetry anthology, I want to write things other than blog posts, I want to finish my unfinished novels . . .

Most impossible goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite-size chunks, writing them down, believing them, and going full speed ahead as if they were routine.
—Don Lancaster

Well, first of all, I wouldn’t exactly call editing a book an impossible goal. And breaking it down doesn’t exactly work either – I mean, you either edit or you don’t. There’s really nothing else to it.

I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, when I think of “keeping my target in sight” I don’t feel like I have one. So then I thought, maybe I need some help setting some goals.

Let’s start with a definition. A goal is something you want to achieve. Pretty basic, but there it is in a nutshell. It is not an objective, objectives are the steps taken to reach a goal. Nor is it a resolution, resolutions are a decision to do or not do something. The goal is what you want to achieve.

Setting specific, challenging goals leads to increased performance, persistence, and motivation. It helps us take a step back and really understand what’s important. Some would say, it’s the first step towards creating a life full of meaning. It gives you something to aspire to, acknowledging what you want out of life. It puts you in control of your future.

There are many different kinds of goals: 1. Short term – goals that can be achieved quickly – within a few days or weeks. 2. Long term – goals that require more time – months, maybe even years. 3. Personal goals – goals related you a person’s health, relationships, or hobbies. 4. Professional goals – goals related to someone’s career and skill development. 5. Financial goals – goals related to paying off a debt, investing, saving for retirement. 6. Academic goals – goals related to someone’s education, such as learning a new skill 7. Social goals – goals related to making new friends, attending social functions, networking.

Whatever kind of goals you make, they should be meaningful to you and fill you with pride when you meet them. Your personal goals should not be dependent on other people and they shouldn’t be reliant on external forces you have no control over. If your goal is based on something outside of your control, you have no control on whether or not you achieve that goal.

I think where I’ve gone wrong is the fact that all the research I’ve done has shown me that it’s not enough to just have goals or set them, you have to have a plan of action in place for achieving them. You also have to figure out what’s needed to reach your goal, and set a time frame for it.

In other words, I don’t just need goals, I need a plan of action. This is going to require some serious thought, but hopefully it’ll be time well spent. And in the end, I really will be able to stay in the light.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

THE WEEK IN REVIEW
I can’t think of a word to describe last week. My brain is mush.

I had a strong beginning (like always). After struggling with my Sunday post, when I was writing Monday’s post I had a sudden idea for this Sunday’s (today’s) post. So I had the first half of it written early in the week. Got my poetry post done early too.

However, starting on Wednesday I began house/dog sitting for my daughter while she and her family are in Halifax (Nova Scotia) and I gotta tell you, this is weirder than snake shoes. She only lives a short distance from me and if she only had cats it would just be a matter of going over and feeding them every day. Maybe spend a little time keeping them company.

But the dog needs to be let out, and at night or when no one’s home he stays in his crate. And I suppose technically, because he’d be in the crate anyway, I could have slept at home, but that just wouldn’t feel right to me.

It took a couple of days to settle into a workable routine. Thursday I had a bunch of obligations concerning my father-in-law, and Friday I had to work around grocery shopping (I had to go to four different stores before I found the FIL’s Bud Zero), so those days in particular were a wee bit stressful. But the rest of my time was okay.

The installment for Winter’s Child almost didn’t happen because of my stress level on Thursday, but I think the story is going in the direction I want it to. I got extra reading in – the daughter doesn’t have network TV and I didn’t bother streaming anything until Saturday night. LOL

I also got a little extra stitching in and some journalling. I would have liked to have liked to have got more writing in, but going back and forth between two homes was a little distracting.

But, only three more days and then I can get back to working on a routine. And you want to know something funny? This dividing my time between two households has made me appreciate having a routine more. I’m actually looking forward to buckling down to working one out for every day.

NEW WORDS:
2185+638+339+757=3,919
DOWN 17 – words from last week

Well that’s not bad at all, is it? I may not have added extra words, but I did manage to be a little more consistent. Most of my blog posts were up a few words, but the installment for Winter’s Child was actually down by about 100 words. I do like to try to keep my installments consistent in word counts, but they’re basically a single scene and it is what it is.

I actually did get some office time in on Monday and Tuesday, but those were the only two days. Having no network TV to watch was a little disconcerting because I’m used to having something mindless on when I’m writing in the living room. With the streaming service I’m usually watching something I want to pay attention to, which is fine for stitching, not so much for writing.

I will admit that I found the daughter’s house less distracting to work in than at home. That’s not to say I got any more writing in at her place, but it showed me what I could be doing with my time.

Goals For Next Week:
Find a workable routine to generate more words.

EDITING:
0 hours

Well, I may not have made any progress with actual editing, but I feel like I’m moving closer to it. I think future progress will greatly depend on coming up with that routine I keep talking about, and spending more time in my office.

Goal For Next Week:
Figure out the prophecy; get editing Elemental Spirit.

POETRY:
I picked out last week’s form early to give myself time to do some research on it, and it’s a good thing I did, because information was hard to come by. I had the inventor’s name and the bare bones of the form. Four different sites I checked had the exact same information. Through sheer doggedness, I uncovered the author’s obituary, which offered a little more insight into her life, but nothing else about the form.

I did not make it to the poetry reading last week – see above mention about dog sitting. But this week there is a poetry gathering. It feels like a long time since we’ve been together.

Goal For Next Week:
Find another new poetry form to share. Do poemwork for Wednesday.

CRAFTING:
I finally got my baker’s rack! The father-in-law paid some movers to, well, move it. It took three of them to get that sucker off the truck and up the stairs. It fits perfectly in the space I had for it, just as I knew it would. And the bottom shelves fold up, which makes it handy because the middle shelf is the perfect height if I want to use it as a work table. All I need is a stool to sit on.

Tuesday was the Annual General Meeting for the stitchery group. It was held at a local golf course and included lunch and a stash sale, as well as the meeting. Despite my best intentions, I came away with three (shopping) bags of loot from the stash sale. *sigh*

However, it wasn’t all for me. The granddaughter mentioned she’d like to learn to sew this summer. So one of the things I nabbed was a brand new sewing box. I’m going to fill it with sewing accessories, and if she keeps up with the sewing for the summer, the box will be hers to keep.

AND there were two blanket sized lengths of arctic fleece that ended up in my bags too. All they need is an edging of blanket stitch and they’re perfect for throw blankets. I figured it would be the perfect first sewing project for her. She can take her pick – she can do one, and I’ll do the other.

Not much actual stitching during the week, until I brought my stitchery bag over to the daughter’s. Then I made some progress on my sampler while watching the Witcher.

I’m actually looking forward to going back home and going through my loot from the stash sale, and getting my baker’s rack set up. AND something to look forward to later in the year, I signed up for a stitchery retreat, my first one.

Goal For Next Week:
Continue with my sampler; go to Fabricland for the netting for the granddaughter’s dress.

WHAT I’M READING:
I haven’t made any more progress in One Dark Window, by Rachel Gillig. *shrugs* I left it at home while I’m at the daughter’s, but I did bring my Kindle with me.

I finished Bride Protector SEAL, which is book #2 in the Brotherhood Protector series, by Elle James, and read Montana D-Force, the next one in the series. I must be in a military/lawman frame of mind, because I’ve started Justice for Mackenzie, the first in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes series by Susan Stoker.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good reading habits.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

I have three more days of house/dog sitting, and then it’s back home full time. While it will be nice to get back to all my stuff, I have to admit the distractions were fewer here. However, one thing I will NOT miss are the mosquitos. The daughter has a row of giant fir trees along her fence, and apparently mosquitos love pine.

That being said, being outside with the dog so much has given me a better appreciation for the great outdoors. Maybe when I get back home I’ll start spending a couple of hours a day either writing or stitching outside.

My baker’s rack was delivered and it looks beautiful in its designated spot. I even bought some small plastic bins for the craft stuff I’d like to keep on it. So one of the first things on my list for when I get back home is to start sorting out stuff to keep on it. I mean, what’s the point of a massive rack if you can’t fill it with stuff, right?

I fell off the list wagon while at my daughter’s, so that’s another thing I have to get back to. But Monday and Tuesday I sat at my desk in my office to update my journals — maybe that’s something else I should be doing on a regular basis.

Despite the upheaval of being kind of away from home for a week, I actually feel like that track I fell off of is getting a bit closer again. I guess only time will tell.