Gettin' It Out There

Spoke with a friend on Friday the 13th who advised me to make some changes in my life - get rid of the stale "can't do" attitude (I hate when that happens!) that so often accompanies cabin fever and being stuck in a rut, and start reminding myself what I'm grateful for, what my goals are and what my are intentions *toward myself* ("If you don't love yourself," she counselled, "you're going to be lousy at loving the characters you want to put onto the page, your work, your life and anyone else.")

I made up the quote, of course, but it's close enough to what KristyR said for me to attribute it to her. And it's something I've told myself often enough to want to slap myself upside the head in a kind of "wake up, idiot!" just for the effect. Sometimes I need that - a kick in the butt, a cuff to the head, lovingly delivered, but sternly meant all the same.

As to the Gratitude-Intentions-Goals - what Kristy Robinette refers to (and has copyrighted as) "The Five", the idea is to write down every day

5 things you're grateful for
5 intentions
5 goals

They can be the same things every day or different things, but by writing them down they are put out into the world, given life - and for a very visual person like me, turned into something I can see, understand...

And respect.

Because I'm pretty certain the two things I most fail to offer myself are these: respect and trust.

So today I am grateful for

- My health and knowing exactly what I need to do to protect it and make it better. (I think that's 2 things. *grin*)
- The busy, bonkers five-month-old puppy who drives me insane and entertains the living daylights out of me at the same time
- The unexpected month with the car
- The passion to develop a new knitting pattern based on something I saw at the Westminster Kennel Club Show last week
- 3 delightful visits with friends I was fortunate enough to have this past week

My Intentions are

- To eat right, lower my bad cholesterol to 100 and keep it there
- Continue to get organized a little more day by day (quiet Lloyd!)
- Fill packages, address them, get them ready for Monday's mail
- Treat myself with love and respect
- Trust my intuition

My Goals are

- Clean off this table
- Organize my historical research & bookshelves
- Finish the historical novel
- Finish writing the pattern for Charlene
- Figure out whether or not I've confused Intentions with Goals & vice versa and straighten that out if necessary.