“The only place where success comes before work is a dictionary.”
~ Anonymous

I’m posting late. I had work to finish before I could turn my thoughts to ordinary things like writing this blog. I finished edits for a friend a little while ago. I needed to get it out the door before I could fully enjoy the company upstairs. We have a houseful of visitors, and here I am in my writing cave, trying to clear my To Do list.

I hope you’re having a more restful time than I am. I’m getting ready to close out my monitor and join the fun upstairs. And tomorrow, I won’t give a single thought to the story I have to write by the end of the month… 🙂

BTW, I could have written the quote at the top of the page. It’s wry, and maybe the  mysterious author was sticking out his or her tongue when she penned it. Wish I’d been that clever first.

Here’s one to chew on…

There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.”
~ Jim Hightower

No task is a long one but the task on which one dare not start.
~Charles Baudelaire

This is just a quick post. A little gasp as I start a new project. The quote above is so true. When you start something new, all you see is EVERYTHING that stretches out in front of you. It’s daunting. Frightening. You wonder whether you have what it takes to get there. Just one more time, you think. I think.

Here goes…

UPDATE: The winners are…Peggy, Colleen, Debra, Jennifer, and Kelley!
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“Crown every passing day with some good action daily.” ~Martin Tupper

I collect quotes. I have for years. They provide me a daily affirmation. A rule to live by. Or simply inspiration to be a better me. I like this one because it reminds me that good deeds aren’t something you do when you feel like it, or when they are scheduled. As well, they don’t have to be large gestures.

For example, yesterday, I made my mother breakfast. The day before, I babysat the littlest one for my daughter. I don’t note when I do something nice for someone else, because I’m not doing it to receive praise, but because it’s a healthy way to live—good for my psyche. I’m not doing it because I want to earn my way into heaven or to earn points with the Powers That Be. Doing good deeds reminds me I’m part of the world, part of a family, someone needed. And I do know I’m appreciated.

So, my question for you today is what good deed will you do today? Or is there some small thing you did yesterday that you’d like to share? Fitting in good deeds in our busy, everyday lives can be a very easy thing to do!

Comment for a chance to win your choice of one of my short stories!

“There should be a burnished tablet let into the ground on the spot where some courageous man first ate stilton cheese, and survived.” ~ G.K. Chesterton

I read that quote and had to laugh. I can soooo relate to it in a couple of different ways.

First, this idea of someone taking a leap of faith with regards to food… I think it was my dd who once asked me, “Who do you think the first person was, who saw a chicken lay an egg and said, ‘I’m going to eat that!'”

And then there is my love of cheese that she finds inexplicable. The smellier, the greater my joy. I have no idea why. You’d think the smell would be off-putting, but for me, the moment I smell a really stinky cheese, I drool. Cheese is my favorite kind of food. Even more so than chocolate. Does that make me weird? My red-headed hellion certainly thinks so…

But this isn’t really a blog about my love of cheese. That quote’s not really about cheese. It’s about the spirit of adventure that lurks inside us. Some of us have more of it than others, but it’s that spirit that makes us try the cheese in the first place.

So, tell me something about cheese, or about some experience you tried out of that spirit of adventure!

And yes, I BOUGHT a picture of cheese. 🙂

Between two evils, I like to pick the one I haven’t tried before… ~Mae West

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude. ~ Voltaire

If that quote is true, then I guess I’m pretty damn happy. Because I’m up to my eyeballs!

Today, I finished working on a 400+ pager by a very talented author. Last week, I wrapped up a 200+ pager from another. Tomorrow, I have to start slamming through a book that I have to load into Amazon by the 22nd. Think I’ll make it?

Lord, I don’t know, but tomorrow, I’m meeting my friend Cynthia D’Alba for a mini, one-day retreat at a favorite coffee house to do nothing but write, write, write. If you know Cyndi, you’re probably laughing at that thought, because she’s a talker, and she brings out the Chatty Cathy in everyone she knows. But I’ll stand firm. Maybe insist on a timer. 45 minutes of words, then 15 of talking. Hope she’s into it. 🙂

So, tell me. What are your strategies for keeping on task? Any words of wisdom for me?

Maybe I need a soundtrack, and it could start with this…