And So It Goes...

I had all these plans of writing this weekend. I carved out time. I made sure the house was clean (well, relatively clean). I even had a few crock pot meals going so I didn't have to spend much time cooking dinner.

Then I remembered I had an all day engagement on Saturday. I was presenting a training at church for the children's ministry volunteers. Okay, so I needed to spend some time prepping for that and would be training all day. There were two videos in the training. I could write during those and over lunch. No problem.

Except I hadn't copied enough handouts for the morning session so had to use my "writing" time to make and organize copies. I still had lunch, right? Um, not really. Just as I had pulled out my AlphaSmart, my phone rang. So-and-So couldn't make it to the afternoon session, would I hold another session? Yes, I would be holding future sessions, but not until after Christmas. Let me take your name and put you on my list of people to connect with in the new year.

My tummy started growling so I left, picked up some hideous fast food and came back. I still had 30 minutes. I could get a couple of pages written in 30 minutes. Except someone stopped in and wanted to know how the training was going and was I going to hold future sessions. Being the nice and accommodating person that I am, I chatted for a bit, let my hideous fast food become vile by getting cold and took something for the headache that was brewing behind my eyes.

The next time I checked the clock, it was time to get the space ready for my afternoon session. There went my writing time. By the time I went home, I was exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I love training! And coaching. And having intellectual dialogues in general. But I have this goal to finish a rough draft of my current book by the end of November and something always seems to get in the way of that goal. Good things, but they get in the way nonetheless.

I just did my word count and I'm at 6500 words. Okay, that's more than I was at this time last week, but I'm still in the first third of the story.

I know, I know. Quit whining, Naomi! If this goal means so much to me, I need to find a way to make it happen. I know that life is not going to stand still while I work on my Great American Novel, so maybe I need to adjust my goal. Maybe my goal is not to have the book finished but to spend 30 minutes a day working on moving this draft forward. Can I do 30 minutes a day? Most days, yes. I write this and I feel some of the tension releasing inside me. Goals sometimes have to change. Or timelines adjust. And that's okay. It doesn't mean I have to give up on the goal or dream. Which is what I usually do.

So that's my learning moment for the day. Nano, you have not beaten me!