Archives for 2011

Have you ever stopped long enough to consider the effect time has on you?  Whether it’s friend or foe?  Well I have.  I’ve probably wasted too much time thinking about it and I’ve come to one satisfying conclusion.  Time – no matter how it’s measured –  in years, months or minutes is never quite as long as we think.

As this year draws to a close I find myself trying to capture memories that happened in March or July or even September.  What significant event took place that I need to remember or treasure?  That family get together to celebrate Independence Day seems like it occurred only yesterday.  Just a month ago the leaves on the tree in my backyard were a fabulous shade of red and orange.  Within days they’ve fallen, turned brown, have been picked up and discarded.  Already we’re facing mid-December and we just rang in the New Year a few moments ago.

Even those unpleasant events that we would like to forget come and go much quicker than we’re willing to acknowledge.  My last visit to the dentist only lasted 30 minutes but my gut tried to convince me I was there for hours.  The other day as I rushed home from work and got caught by that awful traffic light that seems to stay red for years, actually only held me up for less than a minute.

No matter how I mark time, I’m seldom happy with the clock.  It’s either moving too fast or too slow.  How about you, is time your friend or foe?

Okay, I admit I’m one of those people that’s reads a story guaranteeing to help you lose weight or an exercise crazed that melts away 10 pounds in one day and I’m hooked.  I’ll park my butt in front of the television or flip to the designated page in the magazine to find the new and improved way to stay healthy with less time and pain.  

My exercise madness started after a lovely trip to Charleston, South   Carolina. During our visit I ate some of the most delicious foods on the plant.  You see, I love anything and everything cooked with grits.  I can eat grits and eggs for breakfast and then pig out on shrimp and grits for dinner.  While running on the tread mill the other day I watched Paula Dean make a grit soufflé that I must try.  But, I digress…

When I returned from Charleston, I stepped on the scale and five brand new fat pounds had followed me home.  I vowed to begin exercising every day, before that extra weight took up permanent residence on my thighs.  And I did. And it worked. In short order
those pounds were banished.

It’s true what they say. Doing something for 14 days becomes a habit.  Now I exercise everyday.  Even on vacation I pack my running shoes, workout clothes and find the fitness facility. But like everything else there is a downside.  Some mornings I ache from the pounding I take from my long runs.  I swear the glitch in my elbow is from the rowing machine and my calves are so developed my trouser socks are hard to pull up.  But still I’m always looking for that magical solution that will let me eat anything I want while still fitting into my clothes. So if you have that magic potion, please share t with me.  I’m always looking for new ideas.

I must confess, I have never exercised and said I wish I hadn’t done that.  But, my butt could have done without that New York Style Cheesecake; I gobbled up the other night.

How about you, do you have the miracle solutions?

How well you handle disappointment says a lot about your character. Life dishes up disappointment like daily specials at a corner diner.  They’re the speed bumps of life.  Some bumps are small like rain on the day you’ve planned an outside activity.  Others  are major like losing your house keys when you need to get to the bathroom. When life dishes up surprises I have a few choice ways for handling the unexpected.  I curl up in bed and hide under the blanket or cry in my soup and accept the inevitable, or square my shoulders to dig deeper for more determination.

This week my writing career hit a speed bump.  Like many diligent writers, I followed all the rules. I wrote the best manuscript I possibility could.  I shopped it around at several conferences, found an interested editor and sent it to her. Then, I started to work immediately on my next story idea.  In between I watched the phone and the mail, waiting for those magically words.  I waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.     

I waited four long grueling months before I decided to check on my manuscript.  I felt like someone had poured ice water down my back when I was told my manuscript could not be found.  Four months of waiting and nothing to show for it.  I had to reset the clock and start all over again.  The editor was kind enough to request I resend the manuscript and I did.  But first I had to wallow in my misfortune.  I gave myself four whole days to nurture my disaster.  Then I dusted off my melancholy and mailed another manuscript.  The waiting clock has been reset, life has returned to normal.  I’m waiting.

When life throws you a curve ball, what do you do?

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