Showing posts with label optimism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label optimism. Show all posts

Friday, December 7, 2018

Freedom: Sever The Thread

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

December is Potpourri month which means the Genre-istas can talk about anything they want to.

What do I want to share?

Just that most of the women (and some men) I know have done some deep level work within themselves. They’ve assessed their lives, identified something they want to change and followed the thread back to the precipitating event or scenario.

Would you be surprised if that precipitating event was one where they were victimized? Abused? Was a situation that was fraught with peril? A situation that even though they escaped, has tentacles slipping through their lives that affect them today?

Time to Sever The Tentacles from Our Past
I’m writing this post in early October so I’ve no idea what the outcome of the mid-term elections will be. And while there is political turmoil and social upheaval in the United States at this time, I’m writing this post as a commentary on more than the past few weeks. I’m writing about 2018, a year that has found many of us searching for the good, the positive, the beauty in the world around us.

And in that search we’ve faced some truths about our life. We’ve made some decisions. I know I’ve become more active locally and now serve on the Board of my Neighborhood Association. I’ve made a point to get out into my neighborhood where I’ve lived for over forty years and meet my neighbors.

Hours into the dark of night, I’ve remembered negative scenarios from my past and struggled to find a way to neutralize them. It was during one of those nights that I saw the connection between an early decision I made and my relationships – to this day. A time-frame that spans over 50 years!

How freeing! Seeing the relationship between the past and the present was so helpful.

Reminding myself that I’m no longer 20 or 21 or even 25 means I no longer have to live my life as if the vulnerability I felt at that time was still true.

How freeing to find that thread and follow it through my life to the present–––and then sever the connection.

What does your Shrunken, shriveled hose look like?
It reminded me of the newfangled hose I bought last spring. Although this is not a 100% accurate analogy, it will suffice.

The hose’s appearance when coiled in its container is deceptive. Hook it up, turn it on and it stretches as it fills and fills and fills–reaching across the deck to water faraway bushes.

But when I turn the water off, it shrinks, deflates and soon shrivels.

That is the visual I hold when I sever the thread. It shrivels and I’m left with who I am today, the product of all those scenarios, those events, those incidents but I’m no longer tied to them. They no longer have the power to influence my choices today.

The Sacred Women’s Circle stories are about women who make the choice to leave doubts and fears behind and reach for, claim the love they want in their lives. Their journeys are often fraught with peril, with risk, with pain but they can see, just out of their reach, their goal.

In order to reach it, to have that love, they must risk that moment when they free fall, when they let go of the past, the hurts, the doubts and reach for their future.

May you find the strength and courage to reach for your future if not in this moment then in 2019.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Saturday, February 18, 2017

HOW TO KEEP THE FAITH by Sue Ward Drake

Sue Ward Drake drew on her experiences as a hearing-impaired woman to write her hearing-impaired heroine in her soon-to-be-released romantic suspense novel, HEAR NO EVIL.  ~Sarah and Judith~
SUE WARD DRAKE
(Photo by Mari Corn)
Now I know it’s way past New Year’s Resolution time, but that’s essentially what this little piece is about. How to keep the faith, when it’s easier to give up.

Because you’ve been trying to lose weight, or graduate from college, or get fit, or write a novel for what seems like forever. Should you forget about achieving the impossible or plug on?

When I published my first book, a romantic suspense, HEAR NO EVIL, with Silhouette Intimate Moments, I could not contain my excitement. Then I discovered I had to turn in more ideas. They weren’t happy with just the one! Imagine.

I slaved away on several proposals, each one I was sure worse than the one before. Instead of sending them into my editor, I changed my genre and flamed out. There were extenuating circumstances, or so I tell myself. I recently got back my rights and will self-publish HEAR NO EVIL again within the next few months.

I am currently on my second iteration as professional writer, but I can never have enough inspiration. 

Tips and tricks on how to stay motivated—at whatever:
  • --Practice affirmations. Instead of plugging into music at the gym—an impossibility since I am nearly deaf—I recite affirmations. I am creating/living the life I want. Because I am a talented writer, I easily make my own opportunities. I easily wear a size 10, etc.
  • --Visualize success. An oldie but goldie. Make a vision board if you have to, or just write down what you want. Henriette Anne Klauser wrote a book on how she fulfilled her dreams this way.
  • --Clip articles from magazines and newspapers and review the folder along with one for story ideas if you’re a writer. I have one from the New York Times wedding section about a bride who when she wanted something would go after it with a “sort of mythological force.” 

Newspaper syndicated columnist Jeff Herring wrote about “destination thinking.” He talks about not making excuses, about reminding yourself daily why you want this particular destination, about breaking down the journey into small enough steps so you begin to see them as manageable.

 Remember there’s an unlimited supply of success. I particularly like this quote of Nora Roberts, who got her start as a Silhouette author.

“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never get it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”

I hope you will continue with whatever you resolved that night at the turn of the year with a champagne glass in your hand. You can do it. ~ Sue Ward Drake

Please watch my TWITTER account for the date of my re-release of HEAR NO EVIL, a story with a hearing-impaired heroine. 

Bio
Sue Ward Drake has lived in many places: New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina, Greece, Baltimore, Nevada, and Germany. All are fodder for her stories. Her hobbies include hiking, travel, cooking low density meals and, of course, reading. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Thriller Writers International, and Mystery Writers of America.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Hope is a Funny Word


Hope is a sad word to some, as in “I hope I recover from cancer.” The outcome of treatment is not a guarantee of a cure.

“I hope the tornado does not hit our house.” This is hopefulness the weather does not take a turn towards the house.
Copyright : Olga Lyubkin

We can hope for ourselves, our family, our country or the world. Hope can be felt with confidence, expectation, optimism, anticipation, faith and courage.

At one time or another we have all experienced some form of “Hope”. I know I’ve experienced all of the above various feelings of hope.

I’ve lost hope, too. When my Father was dying from cancer I hoped with all my heart and prayers that by some miracle he would be saved. It wasn’t to be. When I arrived at my parents’ house two days before my Dad expired, I went into the bedroom where he lay on a hospital bed provided by Hospice. He looked like he was sleeping. I knelt down on the floor and brushed his forehead with my fingertips. Dad opened his weary eyes and said, “Di, you’re here.” He closed his eyes, and hope fled from my heart.

Those were the last words my father spoke to me.

I try to be optimistic and look at the bright side of life. Last year I was hopeful I’d get a book published and I did, along with Sister Sarah and Judith. But along with hope were perseverance, dedication and co-operation to make it happen.

Glacier Park picture by Diana McCollum
I hoped my husband and I could go on a long vacation. We had not been on one in three years, and we did! Visiting Montana, Idaho WA and British Columbia, again, it took planning and confidence and anticipation to pull it off. Husband has severe back problems so we had to plan to only drive 3 to 4 hours a day. I
had to ask my Sister Sarah to leave her husband and stay with our 89 year old Mom so she wouldn’t be alone while we were gone. I had to withdraw money from my IRA. Everything came together and our hope of a vacation became a reality.

Copyright : Marek Uliasz
So my conclusion on HOPE is you can hope for something all you want, sit back and it may or may not materialize.


Or you can HOPE for something with confidence, optimism courage, faith and participation. One still may not get what they hope for, but wouldn’t you rather be “doing” than “sitting”?