seen from Netherlands
seen from Russia
seen from Ireland
seen from Netherlands
seen from France
seen from France
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from France
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Canada
seen from Ireland
Writing Challenge
1 hour time and a goal to hit 1K words
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
Douglas Adams
Making and Breaking Deadlines
So it turns out, for me to feel in control of my life -- I like to make deadlines. By the time I'm 25 I'll have a book in the works. By the time I'm 24 I'll be working towards getting a more advanced degree. By next fall I'll be looking for another apartment. By next week I'll be able to run my mile in under 7 minutes. (Some fictitious goals, some rather real existing ones.)
And it goes on. And on. And on.
Call it the side-effect of being a journalist, or call it the side-effect of being a touch of a control freak. I'm learning, while it is good to have goals, the constant planning and self-pressure can be a little unhealthy.
Why?
Because as soon as I get a day, or a year, or a month from my self-imposed deadline, I stress like crazy. Mouth ulcers. Lack of appetite. Tears. Self-deprecation. Long rants. Torturing of those closest to me.
I either get an ego-boost and meet my goal, or once again fail to meet my own expectations.
Enough is enough. I'm finally learning that, goals are okay. In fact, goals are great. But I need to be a little more flexible. Sometimes you have to give life room to be what it is going to be!
All this said because, this past month had been a deadline for a lot of things in my life. Some of them happened, some of them didn't. And all of that is okay. I'm okay. I'm happy, and the goals that I didn't reach? Well -- they can be adjusted.
While newspapers might not print your article if you turned it in a few months late -- other dreams can still be cashed in. And trying to understand that, has made my life exponentially easier in the past week.
You would think that would be an easy lesson to learn? It turns out, not so much : ) but in the meantime, for the first time in a while -- I feel like I am going to be totally fine, in fact - I'm going to be great.
