Search This Blog

December 30, 2011

MY WISHES FOR YOU . . . by Kathy Ivan

This blog post really should have happened yesterday. Unfortunately, I have fried brain cells due to the flu and completely forgot I was supposed to do my New Year's post. So even though this is a day late, here it is. The sentiments still hold true—even if they are a day late.

With a bright and shiny New Year approaching in just a few days, most people are busy thinking about their resolutions; the things they plan to change about themselves or the things the want to do in the upcoming year. I've done that more times than I care to count. I start out with all the best intentions with my goals clear. I'm going to lose the rest of the weight I need to lose. I'm going to complete at least two manuscripts during the year. I'll work less and spend more quality time with family and friends. Don't we all promise ourselves we'll do those same things and more.

Then every year, before a few weeks are gone, so are those resolutions. Life interferes, work interferes, or in my case "laziness" interferes. :-)

So, instead of making resolutions this year, I've decided to make wishes. Not wishes for myself, but instead wishes for you, my friends.


Wish #1: Health. My wish for all my friends this year is for each and every one of you to have a healthy New Year. So much happened in the last couple of years, I seem to have become more attuned to people's health and well-being. So big or small, my wish for you is that you enjoy good health throughout the coming year. Take extra care of yourselves, because I'll be watching.

Wish #2: Happiness. I know it sounds trite, cliched even, but it's nevertheless true. I could wish for world peace, and I do, but I also wish an extra dose of happiness for each of you. Romance readers and writers tend to have a positive outlook overall, but we still have an occasional bad day, can get grumpy and depressed, panicked or stressed. We work on deadlines and writing can be a solitary endeavor. So I'm waving my magic wand and sprinkling a little extra happy dust on all of you, sending special wishes for happiness throughout this upcoming year.

Wish #3: Humor. What kind of wish is that, you ask? Our day-to-day lives can get so hectic and stressful we sometimes forget the simplest things. A baby's laugh, a puppy rolling on it's back kicking its legs in the air, or watching a runny scene in our favorite movie. We're so busy rushing from place to place; frantic to make appointments, get to the next meeting, work that couple of extra hours of overtime we forget to take just a moment to smile at the pleasant things in life, to find the joy in the things around us. I've always heard laughter is the best medicine. If we take a minute to laugh at a stupid joke, smile at a child's playful antics, maybe for just a brief span of time we'll feel a bit better about ourselves and our day. (Plus laughter is contagious—you can't hear somebody else laugh without it tugging up the corners of your mouth or even joining in. Remember, it's good for you, too.)

I'm not even going to mention my wish to finish those two manuscripts . . .

These are my three wishes for you this coming New Year. What about you; do you want to make a wish? Share your wishes with the Plotting Princesses. After all, wishes can come true.

13 comments:

Vicki Batman, sassy writer said...

Hi, Kathy! I share your 3 H's. (And right now can use a good #1!)

Michelle Miles said...

Wonderful post, Kathy. I share those wishes, too. But my biggest wish is to become independently wealthy so I can quit working and write full time. :D Yeah, right. I know that's impossible.

BUT! I do wish everyone much success in 2012. Here's to a bright, shiny new year!

Jennifer August said...

Love the post, Kathy and I'll second that! My wish for everyone this year is love, understanding and acceptance.
And lots of chocolate!

Liz Lipperman said...

Wonderful wishes, Kathy. Right back at you and everyone here. The only thing I might add is grandchildren. They keep you laughing, keep you young, and make you feel good--especially when you hand them back to their parents at the end of the day!!!

Happy New Years, guys.

Sasha Summers said...

Here, here Kathy! Thank you for the wonderful wishes. Know they're all being sent right back to you!
Here's looking forward to fantastic2012 - for all.

chris keniston said...

oh how fun - the 3 Hs - LOL.

I've always liked the spanish toast- to: Love, Health and Wealth.

So I guess we're wishing a wealth of happiness and humor!!

This year I wanted to lose those last five pounds and instead gained ten- lol. So I'm not going down that path again!!

I'll stick with wishing everyone a year filled with pleasant surprises - and a good job for my son!!

Phyllis said...

Ah, Kathy, how sweet are your wishes for us. I accept them and send right back out to all the Princesses.

I have personal wishes for this next year.

#1 - Improve my health by losing my excess weight.

#2 Get back into submitting my work. Being on the Board of DARA for several years took up a good hunk of time and non writing efforts. So much so, that I did not submit my work to any contests, editors or agent for the past several years. So duh, how does one get published if one doesn't do anything about it?

So those are my goals for 2012.

Phyllis

Phyllis said...

I wanted to add another wish to all..Princesses and Visitors.

I wish for all those who had success in your writing career to continue that success.

For those who are not yet published, I wish the great success for getting published.

For all - have a properous year....

Phyllis

Elizabeth Essex said...

What a wonderful, generous post. But I would expect nothing but generosity from our thoughtful Kathy Ivan!

I'm going to add one more wish that really encompasses parts of your three wishes: BALANCE.

This year I'm going to strive for better balance between the needs of my life as a person, mom, wife and friend, and my needs as a writer.

So I'm looking to achieve balance, and hopefully this will make the deadlines and the hundreds of other commitments easier to manage.

Wishing you all comfort and joy in 2012!

Kathleen Baldwin said...

I like your wishes, Kathy. Good ones! May we have all those this coming year, Health, Happiness, and Humor!

I like it. I'll add one more in there. May we all write wondrous works of fiction in 2012 and find publishers for all.

Feel better soon!

Kathleen Baldwin said...

Oh, and I just saw Elizabeth Essex's post.

YES, Balance! I need that.

Like Phyllis says, the board takes up a lot of energy and time. Then there's family and business and... whew!
But I'm going to aim for Elizabeth's illusive balance.

I know it's out there. I'm whistling for it.

So, here, here, raise your glasses. In addition to our sweet Kathy Ivan's wishes (and she really is one of the kindest people I know) May we all find balance this year.

Karilyn Bentley said...

Hi Kathy,
I share your wishes too! Along with Michelle's and Elizabeth's. I would love to be able to write FT. Which means I should sit down and write some instead of snacking on chocolate. ha!

Here's wishing each of you a wonderful new year and great success with your writing!

Diane Kelly said...

There are so many things I know I SHOULD vow to do, but all of them require that I have far more time than I do to actually accomplish them! I wish someone would invent a time machine - not so much to travel through time but to produce more of it!!! But one thing I am going to try to do this year is to take time to smell the roses. I tend to always feel like I'm in a hurry!