Keeping My Sanity

Remember the children's game, Hungry Hippo? 

Is life a bowl full of cherries?

Is it funnier than a barrel of monkeys?

Do you ever feel you're swimming in a goldfish bowl?

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with life? Have you ever bitten off way more than you can chew? Have you lost interest in all that's going on with your life, or you job or whatever? 

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. -- Confucius

So have I! As an author, occasionally, I've filled my slate with way too many "yeses" or "should-dos" to fill with any kind of enthusiasm. The thing is, it took several times of experiencing this to finally realize that I can't do everything. Sometimes, I have to take a breath and relax. So I've made a short list today. Here are a few things I've learned and try to practice.

1. Accept what I'm called to do. Write.
2. Realize that it takes work. All of it. Brainstorming, some planning, research, writing, editing, marketing. But it doesn't mean 24 hours a day, 365 days in a year. 
3. I can do my best, and that's all I can do. Yes, I have to keep learning, keep working, moving on, but I have limited resources, limited time, limited ability. 
4. As far as marketing goes, I can't do every course, accept every offer to promote my books, give away all my books. I have to pick and choose, wisely and with prayer. If I try to do it all, I become the greedy hippo who wants it all.
5. Never give up hope or the joy of the writing itself. When I'm tired, I need to rest. When I'm discouraged, I need to focus on getting that spontaneous joy back, when I'm overwhelmed, I need to pull back from that which is draining my happiness and re-assess my priorities.

God's Word instructs me to: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - Rejoice evermore.

To: Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass.  Psalms 37:5 

And to follow: Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.

I can't change the direction of the wind,

but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

-- Jimmy Dean

Follow God's direction, adjust your attitude and habits.

You'll be better off for it.

Don't be like the HUNGRY HIPPO! 
Smile.
Keep Your Sanity!

Happy Days!



About Carole:

Besides being a member and active participant of many writing groups, Carole Brown enjoys mentoring beginning writers. She loves to weave suspense and tough topics into her books, along with a touch of romance and whimsy, and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas.

She and her husband reside in SE Ohio but have ministered and counseled nationally and internationally. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons?


Personal blog: http://sunnebnkwrtr.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaroleBrown.author
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/browncarole212
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sunnywrtr/boards/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5237997-carole-brown
Google+:    https://plus.google.com/u/0/113068871986311965415/posts

Check out her books here

http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Brown/e/B00EZV4RFY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1427898838&sr=8-1

Are You Having Fun?

 

This month has been a stressful one, filled with lots of travel, book deadlines and book edits, household service men fixing stuff, anxiousness about meeting deadlines and making swag for upcoming conferences, and the general inability (because of book deadlines) to get to anything else that needs to be done, including my burgeoning, unwanted collection of garden weeds. Which, believe it or not, stresses me to no end. I like order in my garden, and it doesn’t have it right now, except for the front yard that shows to the whole world. I got that cleaned up before our last big trip so it wouldn’t look like an abandoned yard and the neighbors wouldn’t call the city on me.

Last week, before my first RAGT reader author conference, I was making a list of the things that HAD to get done before the conference started and moaning about whether or not we really had the time to attend the conference. As I read the list out loud to my husband to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, he said, “Have fun.”

“What?” I asked, totally confused by his answer.

“Have fun,” he repeated. “Being an author is supposed to be fun. You are stressing way too much.”

I just looked at him and he said, “Write it down. HAVE FUN.”

I complied and wrote down, have fun. As I sat there contemplating the list, I realized I was not having fun. A part of my life that had always given me joy — writing—was now my biggest stress factor. Don’t get me wrong, I love the process of writing, the creation of a story and characters and their worlds. It’s the rest of the stuff that goes along with it that doesn’t thrill me so much —social media, promotion, deadlines that fall on top of each other, and the lack of time to do the other things I want and need to do.

Not once, but several times this past month, I’ve thought longingly about the early days of our life together, long before I was published, where I always had a clean, tidy house that wouldn’t embarrass me if company dropped in unexpectedly; the laundry was washed on Monday and put away before time to do it again; and I took the time to actually cook, instead of going out to eat. Monday was for washing, Tuesday for gardening, Wednesday for writing, Thursday for shopping, Friday for cleaning the house, Saturday was devoted to family, and Sunday belonged God. I had a schedule and I stuck to it. Life was orderly and mostly calm.

Not so anymore.

Somewhere after achieving my goal of becoming a published author, I’ve allowed the tyranny of the urgent (which has centered around writing) to overrule my order, dominate me, and steal my joy.

Proverbs 15:15 says, “All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.” As I sat there thinking about what my husband had said, I realized there wasn’t anyone to blame for my losing my joy than myself. I alone had let the pressures of my published writing duties, become just that—duties that oppressed me and not things I loved to do.

Instead of looking at editing and deadlines and social media and promotion as chores, I need to reassess my attitude and my schedule to allow more balance in my life. Perhaps it’s time to go back to a version of the daily ordering I used years ago, because I want the orderly house again, and I want the cheerful heart that continually says, “You are so blessed to have achieved your goal. Rejoice and quit looking at the stuff that goes with it as chores.” I want to celebrate every little thing about the gift God has given me, including the things I don’t like.

What about you? How do you keep the joy in your life when it’s overrun with things you don’t want to do? What do you do to keep order?