Do you love when life throws you a curve ball and you were expecting a fast ball, high and inside? It means you have to adjust your stance. Hold your elbow in a little closer to your body, bring your hips in, and aim a completely different direction. And, you have to do it all in the blink of an eye! That pitch comes so quickly there's little time to adjust all of those mechanicals that go along with being an ardent hitter. Life is like baseball. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, sometimes the game is really in the tank and there's nothing you can do about it but accept it and get up again the next day and make a clean start, with a fresh new attitude. I've had some sudden changes lately that have me switching directions in things I didn't anticipate, so I've had to shift my stance a little and adjust.
The thing for me is, as I get older I find it more difficult to accept those changes and adapt. Age is supposed to bring us wisdom. Learning from past mistakes, not repeating them and all that jazz. Patience. The ability to sit, nod, agree or quietly disagree and watch others as they stumble through the maze of life. Hogwash! I want to be stumbling, too. I'm not ready for a rocking chair and cup of tea. Ok, I'll take the cup of tea from the Keurig anytime, but even with my physical limitations I'm just not one to sit, accept, and be placid. One thing my illnesses has taught me vividly...life really is shorter than we think. I try to prioritize my time. Do the things I really want to do, but always get bogged down in the things I have to do. It's a juggling match I never seem to win. The Lhasa isn't much help either. His training to retrieve the Keurig cups isn't going as planned. He's as obstinate as I am.
How do you do it? What's your priority in life? I try not to get too overwhelmed by looking too far into the future. One day at a time, do what I can, don't worry about the rest. But, I'm anal about getting things done so I do end up worrying. It's a cruel circle I can't seem to escape. So, what do I do? I write. I work on short stories, sporadically; poetry is a really good outlet for stress and confusion that surrounds me. I'm still putting together my next novel to come out...and it is a novel, not a novella. It's a finished story; I'm in the editing stage which is an exasperating step of creation. I'm hopeful it will be ready for an audience by April 1st. I must give myself a deadline or I'll keep revising and editing forever. For me, I can always find more or better ways to tell the story so I have to force myself to let it go as it is. I think I've even settled on the perfect title. More about that when I see the proof copy and it gets closer to unveiling.
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There is much conversation in the blogosphere about Amazon and the first ever quarter of the KDP Select program. It was Amazons first attempt at exclusive e-books from self published authors like me. Readership was certainly up, by the hundreds for me, but most of that happened during the free advertising periods that Amazon offered. I haven't worked very hard at promoting lately either, it's been a tough winter with all the crud I've been trying to recover from. I'm going to renew for the next 90 days again, so you'll still be able to get "Random Encounters" and "Bright Lights, Money & Show Biz, Honey" as a KDP Select member for free and there will be a free download day for everybody in the near future. I'll announce that in about a week, so if you haven't had the opportunity to read either, you will very soon for free. I'd very much appreciate if you could go to my Amazon listing pages for both and click on the "like" button. What that does is put my books up in the Amazon rankings to get mention on the main pages of selections. All help for a struggling self pubbed writer is much appreciated. If you prefer the paper back version(s) or just want an autograph, order at my website and as always you get "LifeLoveLust" as a bonus. More for the rambling.
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What's changing in your world? Are you writing about it? You should be. Write it all down, everything. Keep track of your life, your ideas, your fantasies. It's a labor of love I couldn't live without. It's time to refill from the Keurig and the Lhasa is snoring, so looks like I'll have to get it myself. Hug everybody today! Those curves life throws you just might take someone out of your life and no more opportunities for hugs. Get 'em while you can :-)
Adjustingly yours,
~ K
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