Past, Present and Future by Konnie Enos

Time.

Last week about this time my youngest son was complaining about how slow the week was going.

Isn’t that how it always is? When you’re anticipating something time seems to drag by, but when you’re furiously trying to prepare for something it flies by so fast you simply don’t have enough hours in the day, week, month or even year to get everything done.

Here it is, the next to the last day of 2015. The whole year has gone by, in little more than a blink of an eye.

When I look back on this past year I can see some of the changes in my life.

With some effort I’ve lost between 50 to 60 pounds.

I decided I did not need my job but rather my family needed me home more than I needed the stress of trying to work and I’ve found I’m running just as much being a stay at home mom as I was trying to maintain my very part-time job.

I finally, with a great deal of prodding from Bonnie, and encouragement from friends at The Writer’s Chatroom, I finished writing my opus. All 150 chapters of it, and clearly the story can go on. Now the editing begins.

Considering the time of year that it is. My goals for this next year are to lose another 50 or 60 pounds, work on editing my opus and a romance I have finished, plus finish and edit my fantasy.  I hope by 2017 I’ll be ready to start looking for an agent for any and all of the above. Of course, I’ll still be writing more stories while doing all of this. I’d also like to make my saving account grow, hopefully better than I did this last year so I don’t end the year with empty bank accounts.

And, per advice from my Writer’s Chatroom friend Audrey, I’ve already broken my savings goals down into monthly goals (I only get money monthly so that works for me.) Now I have to do that with my writing and editing goals.

Then I have to work on my weight loss goals. Which I’m sure would entail actually adding exercise to my routine since I’ve almost got the diet thing down pat.

Anyway, that’s where I’m at on this bright morning, two days before the start of a brand new year. Now back to being a busy mother.

Where are you?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Happy New Year

Okay, Bonnie was supposed to post this morning but apparently isn’t feeling well so it’s been dumped in my lap, only being the busy mother that I am, I’m swamped. I just returned from a doctor’s appointment (not mine) and am currently trying to fix lunch while typing this and hoping I have enough time to pay the bills before I have to pick-up my son from school. (Something my husband normally does but he’s out of commission too.)  And I still have to run to the store, a normal chore for me.

But while trying to encourage Bonnie to write something I thought of New Year’s Resolutions. I know people do those every year but I’ve long since not bothered. I figure IF I’m going to bother setting a goal and working toward it I don’t need a special day of the year to start on. But my approach to changing me tends to be a slow process.

As an example I decided once I needed to improve my diet, make it healthier, so I started working on it, and I’ve made several changes since then. Most notably I switched to nonfat milk. That was roughly eighteen years ago. My diet is still a work in progress. This last year I worked on decreasing the amount of treats I ate. I still need to work on that, but I’m getting better. Now if I could just get my diet closer in line with a diabetic diet I might be getting somewhere.

While for most things a little at a time is how I approach it, with my writing, it tends to take a back burner because I don’t have large blocks of time to devote to it. When I go to work on a story I need time to re-read the story so I can get the next scene refreshed in my memory. Generally by the time I’ve done that much my writing time evaporates. Either the reading took all my time or some catastrophe requiring my attention befell my household and I have to drop everything and attend to it. Sometimes it’s not actually important, but my family thinks it is, and it’s been something major, like an ER visit, enough times that I always drop what I’m doing.

I know writing goals down and having a support system helps you to accomplish your goals. So, I’m asking you. Do you set New Year’s Resolutions? Do you write your goals down? And what kind of support system do you have?