Life Goal
I have a list called ”100 Life Goals” that I hope to accomplish or experience before my life is over. Currently it only has 55 items on it. Evidently I hope to accomplish 45 things that I don’t even know about yet. Some of these written goals I have are “do” goals—things I want to do in my life. Most are “see” goals—things I want to see. A few are “have” goals—things I hope to possess (Yes I know it’s shallow and fleeting. But it also enables the accomplishment of many of the “do” and “see” goals. (That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.)). So far I’ve reached 29 of the goals I have listed. As you can see, I’ve got a long ways to go.
One of my long time life goals has been to write a book. And that’s the one I’m concentrating on right now. When I set that as a goal, many years ago, I wasn’t sure exactly what it would be about—perhaps real estate investment—but I felt like it would be a neat accomplishment if I could get it done.
To be quite honest, it wasn’t until about a year ago, after doing this blog for awhile, that I began to realize how much I truly enjoy writing. It’s been a late revelation to me. I’ve enjoyed the writing part that had to do with things religious and it has served a useful purpose but I’ve also enjoyed (in some ways much more) the writing part about my personal memories and family history. It’s not so much that I’ve enjoyed the writing part itself (though I do enjoy the challenge of painting a word picture in such a way that we can all experience the event being described). But I mostly enjoy the fact that the memories that I’ve had stored in my brain are making their way to a medium that is more easily transferred to future generations. They are no longer trapped in my head but they are written on paper and on hard drives and pin drives and can be saved and passed on down the line.
When I stated doing this blog I didn’t realize that one of the side benefits would be that it would help facilitate the accomplishment of this book writing goal that I’ve had rolling around for so long. I started the blog because I just needed a place to vent and to express myself. Not only have I been able to do those things, but the blog has partially helped me overcome the book writing obstacle of having to do so much writing and compiling without the benefit of any feedback before it is finished. Your positive feedback on my posts has been such an encouragement to me that it’s made it easy for me to keep writing story after story after story. In fact, thanks in large part to your encouragement, the first draft has been completed and printed off and put into a notebook in my office. It’s about 160 pages long.
I’ve had a couple of my good friends to critique it and they have come back with quite a few suggestions, criticisms, and some reality checks that I’m taking to heart. I’m now in the process of rewriting, editing, researching, fleshing out, double checking facts and polishing the material so that it will be just right when it is completed. I don’t want to leave it half done. I want it to be just right. So that’s where I am.
They say that you have a better chance of achieving a goal if it is written down and if you tell others about it. My goal for this year is to have the book completed and published and in my hands before this year is over. And I just told you about it so maybe you can help me make it happen. Thanks to all of you for the encouragement you continually shower on me. You are such a blessing to my life. I’ll keep you posted on the progress. God Bless. Dennis
