Another fantastic quote from my Friday writing class. The positivity that flows from this group sends my heart soaring for the entire week. Even with freezing temperatures, icy winds, and blowing snow we can all enjoy the contentment of bundling up in warm clothes. No worries about overeating, gaining weight, tucking in floppy extra body fat (oh, I detest that word!), instead the pure happiness of being cuddly and relaxed. I love it.
What an encouraging concept – being content with who we are inside with less attention on our outer appearance. Not that we should dress like clowns in PJ garb and slippers, but that we should accept and appreciate ourselves.
Our society places extensive focus on appearance – I can relate to this as I have always paid attention to the pounds that I carry. From near starvation in the ‘70s to “What the heck – who cares??” ‘80s.
The “Who cares” time let my mind drift to more important aspects of life such as, well, living. And guess what? As I ate more healthily, restarted my running sorties, and concentrated on an optimistic outlook, excess weight vanished as I learned to maintain a sound physical and mental state.
Not that I don’t occasionally revert to my old habits, especially after times of overindulging in treats, but they do not overtake my belief in myself as a decent human being – someone who delivers and deserves respect.
During the pandemic days I made sure that every day I exercised, showered, and donned “regular” clothes. That way I remained aware of my wsize while not making it front and center of my thoughts. While “chicness” has never been my forte, I usually try to dress appropriately – not fancy but not like a drub – except when there is work to be done in and around our home. It has paid off and continues to do so. I value being proud of myself in a non-haughty way. I hope that 2023 delivers personal satisfaction to you.
This transports us to the proverbial resolution – what each of us wants to do or change in the coming year. 8th graders often stated that their goal was “Strait As” – yes, I note the incorrect spelling, but from the mouths of kids comes much truth, for example, dire straits as grade time approaches. Perfect scores require dedication based on a plan for success. It means pledging to complete all work on time with proofreading and self-correction included in every assignment. After a proper design is created there must also be concerted effort to adhere to guidelines and follow through. Here arises the challenging part as saying and doing can be quite the opposite.
An example, writing. I relish my time at the laptop; I love when people make statements like the title of this article knowing that I can grab a thread and generate a piece. Some of my work is good; some is meandering; some is relegated to downright awful, however, each meets the goal of daily writing. Over the years I have learned to “save it all” and even though my computer reminds me periodically I am “out of space”, I continue regardless. To remedy this problem I will move all access work to the cloud and store many works on a flash-drive. Thus I begin to develop an outline for success: gathering topics, daily writing, saving and adequately storing my efforts, thus leaving items open for review when I take an interest. This also permits the separation of writing from editing.
Editing is fun – really. Although often I adjust wording as I go with the handy thesaurus a click away, it is especially gratifying when I complete a work, step away, then return with a fresh mind and eye. I read items aloud because that clarifies my ideas as I correct, reread, and adjust. Yes, I still miss errors and count on others to spot them and let me know, but sometimes it is me – alone and free to say what I think how I like to think it. The website ezine is a terrific site for throwing out articles and awaiting reactions and rebuffs from other writers. That is freedom and I do hear it ringing. I’ve been delivered from worry and being cool thus allowing me to be me.
Happy New Year and best wishes to all.
