I wouldn’t want to live a hugely long life in an imperfect world such as this one. I instead look forward to a very long life living forever with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in heaven.
Tag: life
Hardest Personal Goal
The hardest personal goal I set for myself was back in the early 2000’s when I was in the beginning stages of writing my first novel. I set a goal for myself to finish it in 2004. I had started writing it in 1999. Well, twenty years afterwards in 2019 I finished and published it. Writing your first book is not an easy feat. Maybe for some beginning writers it is but for many it is not.
So what makes publishing that first book so difficult? It’s everything we don’t know that we need to know and have yet to learn. Add to that a full time job and raising a family. We do our best. I did take my time with that book because there were times I didn’t feel like writing. There were times I needed time to think about how I wanted the story to get to where I wanted it to go. Then, a large chunk of my manuscript got deleted when the hard drive on my computer went bad. Essentially, I started over. I am so glad I did because the story was better as a result.
Learning the ins and outs of writing a book along the way took time as well, which included learning how I write. Am I a planner or a pantser? Getting to know myself is what I call this. I did figure all of this out by the way. Now that doesn’t mean I know everything there is to know about writing a book. No one ever knows everything there is to know. It’s a ongoing process, so we are continuous learners.
I should never have made the goal of finishing my first book to be in 2004. That wasn’t realistic. Not for a first time novelist. Hence the most difficult goal I ever set for myself.
Grounded Apples and Problems
In comparing apples on the ground under an apple tree and problems, you can clean up apples on the ground one day and the next day there are more to clean up. Such is life. It’s not the act of cleaning up the problems but how you clean them up. Approach it from a positive perspective. I know that isn’t always easy. It depends on the issue.
But, like ships in the night, problems to pass.
A Fear I Overcame
When I was in the Navy Reserves, I took a course called Firefighting and Damage Control at the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Long Island. If any of you have been there, you know where I am talking about. The course was two weeks long with the first week covering firefighting and the second week covering damage control. The first week consisted of a lot of classroom instruction (Monday – Thursday), then Friday was hands on. Now keep in mind I was a novice at this. I had seen firefighting on TV shows, but I was never part of the act in real life. Until that course. Yes, I was nervous, fearful, and Oh My Gosh all wrapped into one emotion. The key is not letting that show.
The hands on consisted of various scenarios. In each scenario we had to put out a fire in a different type of environment as it pertained to Naval situations. For some scenarios we worked with a partner, and for others we were put into teams of six. My fear at that time was claustrophobia. Let’s just say it isn’t my fear anymore.
Let me explain. This school had a small Navy ship built into the pavement for training purposes. The galley (kitchen) was below the surface. The stairwell to get to it was painted black. The fire (Yes, there really was one, albite it being controlled) was in the kitchen. My team of six headed down the stairs (keep in mind that if we didn’t do any of these scenarios, we didn’t pass the course). I was in the middle of the line of sailors heading down the stairs. We got halfway down. It grew darker. The walls closed in. I froze, slapped my hands on the walls on either side of the stairwell, turned and ran back up the steps. When I reached the top, my instructor asked, “What’s the problem?” To which I replied, “Claustrophobia.” He told me to relax and breath. He didn’t force me to go down. After all, I did have a choice. But I needed to pass that course. That fact kept slapping me in my head more than anything. So I said, “I have to do this. I’m going down.” And I did. I trotted down the stairs, met my team mates who where fighting the kitchen fire, took hold of the hose and did what I was supposed to do.
I know I made this sound like the decision was easy at the end when I decided to finish the scenario. But, trust me, it wasn’t. The fear of failing won out in the end. We put the fire out and passed.
Next to Never by L. M. Montes
Standing on the sidelines,
watching life go by,
feet get stuck in a mire’s muck,
when I never give a try.
Broken Bones
Yes, three. When I was four, I decided it would be fun to hang on the arm of one of the flower pots on the side of the house. It was approximately 2 feet by 6 inches and about 6 or 7 inches deep. It was filled with dirt at the time. I wrapped my foot in the angular arm protruding out from the house, grabbed hold of it with my hands, and started swinging. It took one swing and the flower pot came down on my left ankle. I remember that pain like it was yesterday. I am thankful to God for not letting it come down on my head, or I probably would not be here today reliving that experience. Then…..
Last year, July 29 2024, I was on a walk. I had my cellphone in my left hand playing music (no headphones) and going at a pretty good clip. I was on the sidewalk (usually I walk on the street). As I approached the next street, I tripped over a piece of cement sticking up from crack. My knees went out from under me, I couldn’t right myself, and I flew over the curb into the street. I landed on my left side. My phone went flying, my left arm twisted, and the left side of my face smacked against the pavement. My right arm was trying to do its job, and in so doing, twisted as well but not as much as the left. The result? My left arm was dislocated at the elbow (radius), and the ulna was broken in three places. I have a plate and screws keeping it all together. The right arm had a tiny hairline fracture in a small round bone inside the elbow. No cast for the right arm, but it still hurt to the point I needed my husband to do tiny favors for me like opening the tube of toothpaste, LOL. The left had a splint for the first two weeks (after the ER doctor put the radius back in its socket). Two weeks later I had surgery on the three breaks on the ulna to put the hardware in, then it was wrapped for a month.
Now, ten months later, my arms are as good as new.
Introspection
Life’s a gamble, not to get lost in the cards or the games.
Life’s Game
by K. McMahill
Here as I sit at the table and see the stares, I already know who is calling me out, not being a road dog, but i know how to be a man.
Life’s a gamble, not to get lost in the cards or the games.
Favorite Drink
What is your favorite drink?
The lovely mixed with beautiful aspects of life is my favorite drink. Even in the face of negatively and all that’s bad.
When Life Flips That Switch
It’s ok to feel overwhelmed at first when something good or bad happens. That’s normal. So go ahead and feel that overwhelming sensation. Once the shock dies away, your mind will go over the situation and try to come up with ways to work with it. If it helps to hash it out with someone else, do that. Remember that little story about the tortoise and the hare and how slow and steady wins the race? Well, I look at that little story this way; as you’re taking your time to get through whatever it is your going through, your mind is also working on the problem in the background. If you rush through, you might miss something vital and lose out.
WRITE TIME AND AGAIN 