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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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

HUGS, Mary. You've accomplished so much, and you do need some down time

Anonymous said...

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!

Linda Winfree said...

Me, struggle with guilt? Nooooo . . .

You're starting to sound like me!

Marianne Arkins said...

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!

I never feel like I've done enough.

*sigh*

I don't know that there's a way to stop it.

Anonymous said...

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...

MJFredrick said...

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.

MicheleKS said...

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.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

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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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.
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