Plunging Closer and Closer to Christmas

   It’s hard to believe, but Christmas is three days away and I am still
   writing and quite relaxed. No, the chaos hasn’t taken over yet. And there is
   less and less time for it to consume me now! So, I think I really could
   congratulate myself for staying calm and productive until now.
  
   I still did manage to write for two hours this morning. I also did about an
   hour of marketing research and promotional stuff, along with reading and
   other things. So, I am quite proud of myself. I hope all of you are writing as
   well and keeping productive.
  
   For the rest of this blog today, I would like you to spend a few minutes
   with me pondering the past year. How was your year? What would you like
   to do different next year? What would you like to accomplish both for your
   writing and personally?
  
   Every year around this time, I sit down and think about the year that
   passed and the year to come. There are a lot of things that I would like to
   change and some things that I would like to improve on. Here are a few
   things.
  
   First, I would like to take better care of myself this year so that I could
   write more and not feel overwhelmed with deadlines. I write both
   academically and creatively as some of you know. So, it takes a lot of
   juggling and deadlines to do both kinds of writing successfully in the two
   different domains.
  
   So, let’s see, how can I better take care of myself? For one thing, I will
   devote certain parts of every day for me. I will call this part of my day ‘my
   time’. And during this ‘my time’, I will journal, meditate, exercise, and just
   lay low in order to rejuvenate some of my lost energies. During ‘my time’,
   there will be no disturbances. I will make sure I tell everyone in my family
   when this time will be and I will expect this time to be honoured, unless it
   is an emergency.
  
   Second, I will do one thing that I find very enjoyable each and every day,
   regardless of how busy I am. During one of my journalling sessions in the
   past few days, I listed 100 things that bring me peace and joy. I have found
   that certain things just make me feel so good. Even the thought of doing
   them brings a smile on my face. So, I will make sure that I do some of these
   pleasurable things on a consistent basis.
  
  
   Third, I will be a bit more egoistical this year. I will do things that I need
   to do when I need to do them. I won’t let myself be bamboozled into agreeing
   to do something when my body or soul is yelling ‘NO’, for instance. I will pay
   much more attention to my inner voice than last year.
  
   So, these are the three ways that I will commit to taking better care of
   myself.  What will you be doing to take better care of yourself in the new
   year?
  
   I wish all of you a healthy, peaceful and productive new year!
  
   Irene