Fall 2017 was the busiest of my life as I took on a second job (a return to swim coaching for the same team I last coached 20 years ago), as well as becoming a board member (as secretary) and an elder candidate at my church. Naturally, the first thing that suffered was my writing.
I managed to complete the sequel to my book (call
ed Heart of the Dragon) and begin outlining the final book of the trilogy (still untitled), but my blog has gone almost untouched. Before I disappear into the haze of the coming quarter, I thought it would be good to revisit my 2017 resolutions.
As I wrote, it was the first time I’d had any resolutions in years. I met two of my three goals (my son graduated high school and I had such a good meet I wrote an article that was published). I did not find an agent, but I stopped sending out query letters while I finished book two, then did some major twiddling with book one. That leads me to my writing goals for 2018: finish rewriting my query letter and start sending it out again.
These were just goals, however. My resolutions had to do with how I live my life. My aim to practice justice of some sort (as in defending the poor, weak, and defenseless) went mostly unfulfilled beyond a bit of research and a bit of financial support to AJS. I don’t want to give up on this resolution, but I’m going to have to make a greater effort in 2018.
My other two goals were to be more kind and more humble. I really did try hard on these two goals, and hopefully I made progress. While my friends and acquaintances are far better able to testify to my success or lack thereof, I rely on how I behave when I’m driving alone. No one can hear me yell obscenities when I’m failing or see when I’m courteous. I have to pray before I leave and literally tell myself to chill while I drive. By the time I climb out of my truck, I’m either irritated or laid back, and my ability to be kind and practice humility are directly reflected by my attitude.
Did I improve in 2017? Definitely. Did I improve enough? No. Remaining chill while I drive is goal I achieve only a fraction of what I’d like. So that’s my biggest resolution for 2018. If you want to ask me at any point this year how I’m doing on my resolution, feel free. If I’m better with my time, I’ll find occasions to blog how I’m doing.
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