Tanya's Journey

I'm a planner. Everything I do must be planned in advance. Like, seriously. I've refused outings with friends who would call at the last minute because I hadn't planned the outing and everything it entailed. Even if I was doing absolutely nothing, I refused to go. Yes. I'm serious. To add to that wonderful quality of mine, I'm a control freak. EVERYTHING I plan must go as planned or I freak. Like, seriously. I hate changing my plans. I have anxiety issues that surface when things go awry. That being - admitted- it's always boggled me that I don't outline my novels. Never. I've tried, but I just can't. I mean, how can I write a story that hasn't been told to me by my characters yet? THEY are the ones who tell the tale; I just write it. But being the planner/control freak that I am, how can I not outline? Not detail every plot and storyline? Last book I wrote was . . . 4 years ago? I've written 4 in total, and not one of them was planned. They...

I remember reading this somewhere, years ago, and it always stuck with me. People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do. When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on. When people c...

My mom recently sent me a blog by Gail Vaz-Oxlade titled  Where's your focus? . Gail's a finance Guru and she says, "One of the things I sometimes suggest to people who are saving for a big buy, like new furniture or a family vacation, is to cut out a picture of the object of your desire. Paste it on a piece of poster board. Then draw a thermometer beside the picture and label it in $50 increments. So if your new couch were going to cost $3000, you would have a thermometer with 60 markers. When you stick your first $50 in your Furniture Savings Account, you can colour up the thermometer to the first $50 level. Save another $100 and you can colour up two more segments. As you keep colouring up the thermometer you can see your progress. You’re focused on the small steps forward, not intimidated by the larger goal." I LOVE that. Because, really, we can apply it to any goal we set. I've decided to do this with my writing, my works in progress. On a smaller scale, of c...