This is like my brain with a million thoughts going on all the time
Boy, my day is like this a lot of the time. I have way too many things on my plate and too
many projects going at one time in order to accomplish the completion of
everything on my list at any given time.
It seems a “monkey wrench” gets thrown into the middle of
things and soon I’m off on a different path fixing a different problem. Perhaps I lack the focus I need, but I always
have good intentions and am an eternal optimist. I ALWAYS think I can accomplish everything on
my list when in reality I know I never can, however I never throw in the towel
and admit defeat until the end. I’ll
stay up until past midnight trying to finish a task. I’m not sure why I’m this way over everything
in my life. Who do I get this from in my
family?
I don’t know the answer to that, but everyday I wake up with
the same optimism as the day before. I’m
not sure if that’s a bad thing, or a good thing. I do accomplish things everyday, but not all
I want to. That rarely happens because I
get sidetracked by unexpected things that arise that have to be dealt with
NOW. However, the list is still on my
mind and I get back to it as soon as I can.
Staying up until the wee hours to accomplish something has never bothered
me. I’d much rather go to bed exhausted
and know I finished the project than go to bed and think about it, letting it
keep me awake.
So am I an odd duck, or do more of you think this way? Yes, I realize there’s always tomorrow and
another day to work on the task at hand, but it really bothers me to leave
something unfinished that I think is important.
Maybe I need therapy. Who
knows? All I know is once my mind is set
on something there’s no stopping me, unless the situation is beyond my control.
I’ll tell you a story.
I really wanted to enter the very first ABNA (Amazon
Breakthrough Novel Award) contest that Amazon held in 2008. I had worked five years on my novel. The deadline was coming to have the book
finished so I could enter. I was very
determined. That was the first time I
stayed up three whole days without sleeping.
I’ve done it a few times since then, but always when hubby is out of
town. He’d have a cow because he sees
nothing more important than “keeping a normal schedule” for everything.
I did get the contest entered, but I was delirious from lack
of sleep. I ran the coffeepot
nonstop. Paper adorned the floor of my
office like it had been hit by a whirlwind.
I wore my sweats and didn’t bother to shower, or clean up the entire
time. I worked frantically on my novel
to make sure it was formatted correctly and there weren’t any typo’s, etc.
Of course, at the last minute there was a snafu, which is
the story of my life. First, I couldn’t
find the CD I needed with all the entry instructions. It was buried somewhere on my office floor
under that paper stack. Then my internet
went down. I rushed to my neighbors and
luckily they hadn’t left for vacation yet.
He was nice enough to let me use his laptop to submit my entry. I felt bad about holding them up, so I worked
as quickly as I could to enter all the information they needed and to upload my
manuscript.
Once I was back at home, I felt great—mission
accomplished. I collapsed on the couch
for some much needed rest.
I only tell you this story because that’s how dedicated to
the cause I become about everything I undertake. Sometimes this attitude can really be a
situation and cause all sorts of problems in my personal life. But I am what I am and not likely to change
after six decades.
