Guilt Redux
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3 weeks to go...sad, sad, sad. I don't know where this week went. One minute I was dropping the boy off at school, thinking I might go see Journey to the Center of the Earth, and next thing I know it's Friday, I'm picking him up and I've seen no new movies.
I'm sitting here beating myself up for wasting time when I have SO MANY ideas to write and so many books to read, but then I stopped myself. My goal this summer was to have 3 marketable books ready to submit. I'm 70 pages away from that goal. I planned to read a book a week this year. I'm on book #44 for the year.
So why am I still beating myself up for "slacking?" I've judged 3 or 4 contests, I've participated in critique every time, I've written queries and synopses, I've revised a contracted novel and a contracted essay....I've probably done more work than many other teachers I work with, and still I'm guilty.
My only bads - I've not finished sewing, my house isn't as clean as I'd like and I never did get exercising, and it shows. Oh, and the boy hasn't been driving as much as he should.
Are you like me? Do you let guilt get to you?
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About Me
- MJFredrick
- I'm a mom, a wife, a teacher and a writer. I have five cats and a dog to keep me company. I love bookstores and libraries and Netflix - movies are my greatest weakness.
Beneath the Surface
Breaking Daylight
Breaking Daylight Review
Where There's Smoke
Where There's Smoke Review
Bull by the Horns
Hot Shot Reviews
Hot Shot
8 comments:
HUGS, Mary. You've accomplished so much, and you do need some down time
Mary, You sound just like me. I do that to myself all the time. Focus on the good stuff. Every time you start to beat yourself up, think of five good things. Whenever I'm completely over the top, I read a chapter at random of Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird. I figure if she gets through these feelings, so can I. HUGS!
Me, struggle with guilt? Nooooo . . .
You're starting to sound like me!
YESSSSSSSSSSSS!
I never feel like I've done enough.
*sigh*
I don't know that there's a way to stop it.
Isn't it crazy? When you list your accomplishments on paper it soooo overwhelms the things you haven't done...yet you still feel guilty. In my case, I have it coming :-D, but you? Mary, you deserve to put your feet up and enjoy a drink while you ogle that picture you posted today.
Pardon me while I drool...
Why can't I let myself HAVE downtime, though? You guys know what I mean!
Liz, that sounds like great advice....5 good things. I like it.
Shelisa, you're a busy lady, too! You do NOT have it coming!!!! And isn't that a great pic of Gerry? I guess it's from when he was training for 300.
I'm all for setting goals but I also believe that they're not set in stone so if a few don't get done then they don't get done. And I think of down-time as recharging the batteries.
And I just want to say that the pic of Gerry is a hot, fantasy-inspriing wonder. Thank you.
I think it's partly the whole time thing. When you lay it out that way--OMG, only three weeks left!--there's a moment of panic about all the stuff undone, or at least the limited time to do anything else. What DID get done is irrelevant because it's in the past.
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