Change your Mind, Change your Life

Whew! Just got off the treadmill. The other day I blogged about creativity starters and Michael Malone of May Contain Nuts said going to the gym worked for him. Well, that reminded me (yes, I needed a reminder to exercise since I haven't redeveloped the habit) that it was time to get back on the ole walkabout.

So Sunday, I hopped on with my Ipod and treadmill playlists. Problem is, I hate to ease into it. Though my playlists are graduated for an increase in speed, I want to skip to the faster, rockier ones and before I know it, I'm practically dancing/jogging. That's how I pulled a muscle in June. So I'm exercising twice a day for shorter periods for a couple weeks. Close to the end I flip over to something like Mellancamp's Pink Houses which is always good for another 5mins.

I was listening to Mellancamp's 'Your Life is Now' - "You change your mind, you change your life". It always reminds me of favorite Navy Guy/'son' who has accomplished so much by challenging himself, dreaming big and never believing it can't be done. Dream no small dreams!. It's not easy for an unpublished writer to stay optimistic in the face of the economy, the changes in the industry, the bad news always coming out of the media and writers' conferences.

I pull out these great quotes from my first website occasionally to remind myself to keep believing. 'Act as if'. Change my mind. Start with the little things. I have a friend who had a birthday Friday who fairly radiates vitality and youth. A beautiful person who has a great attitude of building other people up. And a sweet cousin who sent me an email this morning that said, "TODAY IS SPECIAL. 09/9/09. THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN IN A CENTURY. MAKE MEMORIES!!!" Even the US Open players are talking about Belief in themselves against the bigger odds. There are writers out there beating the odds every day. Why not me? Why not you?



It's not January 1st, but it's as good a time as any to start over, to carry through with some of those plans and pursue dreams lay dormant. What about you? Push forward today on one dream, one project, one attitude. Be happy, pursue publication, quit smoking, exercise, spend more time with your kids, work less hours. Go for it!

Do you like one of these quotes or have a favorite?

EDIT: I put the blog up and saw on my blog page that Michael was blogging about Persistence. You'll want to read it.

Cicero on food

One should eat to live, not live to eat. ~Cicero, Rhetoricorum LV

So this issue really is as old as time.

Will power

Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork. ~English Proverb

Whew! That's short but profound. We have the power to control a lot of our well being through the way we manage our diet and activity. The question is do we have the discipline? I struggle with that everyday.

Taste but don't swallow

Eat as much as you like--just don't swallow it. ~ Steve Burns

You know that's not the worst advice. I remember when I was on Weight Watchers and I was counting points. I could have anything I wanted as long as I counted the points and didn't go over, hmm, I think it was 26. So if I popped something into my mouth and it wasn't that good, I'd say, why waste the points and I'd just spit it out into the nearest trash can.

Those points had to count for something when you had so few.

Those smart ass Californians

You're thinking I'm one of those wise-ass California vegetarians who is going to tell you that eating a few strips of bacon is bad for your health. I'm not. I say it's a free country and you should be able to kill yourself at any rate you choose, as long as your cold dead body is not blocking my driveway. ~ Scott Adams

Funny, but that excess weight can be life threatening. Here's to everyone who is struggling today for a healthier lifestyle. Keep on pluggin.

A different perspective

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. ~Author Unknown

Isn't that true, we concentrate on the short holiday season where if we'd set new patterns for the year we could withstand the occasional indulgence.

Quote of the day - diets

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart. ~ Erma Bombeck

While that might be true, most of us won't go down with the Titanic and will be most happy that we aren't our biggest size ever when we meet our ex's next wife. Of course that might be a good time to find a dessert cart.

Quick weight loss

Thank you for calling the Weight Loss Hotline. If you'd like to lose a half pound right now, press 1 eighteen thousand times. ~ Randy Glasbergen

Weekly Quote

Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.

Virginia Woolf

Quote

If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.

Lillian Hellman

Weekly Quote

A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.

Virginia Woolf

A Solitary occupation

Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking.

Jessica West

Can you relate?

My Dream

My goal is to become a published author, specifically to sell my first book in 2008.

How do I expect to achieve it? Through time spent learning the craft, studying the industry, long hours with my fingers on the keyboard, through a successful critique partnership, and support of my husband and friends. By networking in the industry with authors and other writing professionals.

I am pursuing it with the same passion I employed when self teaching myself guitar, computer, manufacturing management. Nothing exemplifies my professional life more than the quote by Thoreau on my Welcome page.

"I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined,he will meet with success unexpected in common hours." Henry David Thoreau

And like the fountain at Centennial Park in Atlanta, that expresses the music in so many different ways, the mind is an image fountain.



Capturing those images in a unique way is a challenge and a passion I’ve only recently discovered is as necessary as the air I breathe.

Favorite Writers Quote

You must learn to overcome your very natural and appropriate revulsion for your own work.

William Gibson


Oh, wow. Is that appropriate or what? That was supposed to be last Tuesday's quote but I had to work. That one needs to go on the computer as a reminder.

As Emily used to say, "And that's the twuth."

Favorite Writers Quote

"How vain it is to sit down to write if you have not stood up to live."

Henry David Thoreau

Favorite Writers Quote

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

~Anton Chekhov

Favorite Writers' Quote 1

This week I begin a Tuesday writers' quote feature, starting with the perfect subject since I'm in revision for my first two partial submissions. Since I couldn't decide between the two, today, a bonus, second quote on how easy it is to write.

Anyone can do it. You can quote me on that.


Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.

~Gene Fowler

There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.

~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith