Kathleen asks: Which Road's Paved With Good Intentions?

I'm late! It's not noon yet, though, so here I go. It's January, and it feels like I've been blogging my brains out this month, but I still haven't really put my 2007 intentions out there for all the world to see, thereby carving my commitments in stone. I have terminal "good girl" syndrome, you see. Will work for approval. Give me a gold star, an A, a little plastic trophy and I'm in for a pound. So declaring my intentions is a biggie.

2006 was a difficult year for me, but I succeeded in more ways than I realized. Last Saturday I attended the first Midwest Fiction Writers meeting I'd been to in several months. Mainly I was there because months ago I'd agreed to give the program, so even though I was hacking with a horrible cold and dangerously contagious, I dragged myself out and kept my promise. Good girls, after all, grow up to be super women, at least in their own minds. So there I am, spreading germs and wisdom in the same breath, and our new Veep who's running the meeting takes out a list of declared intentions for 2006, to which a whole bunch of us had signed on exactly a year ago. I'd forgotten about it, but, lo and behold, I've achieved my goal! Finished the WIP (and I was way behind when I made that declaration) in record time and I've written 200 pages of the current WIP. Woo-hoo! Our dear Veep presented me with a certificate right then and there. I felt all warm and happy. No kidding. I made my writing goal and my weight goal. Maybe 2006 wasn't as bad as I thought.

So now I'm psyched for 2007. Because 2006 really was tough in many ways, and frankly by December I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. I thought the chest was empty. But like Pandora, I finally took a moment to look into the bottom of the box, and there lies hope in the form of a couple of gold stars. Silly gold stars.

Heck, I can use those! I've gotten healthier. I resolve to keep my health on the front burner. Eat right, get back into the exercise swing, take what I learned in '06 and work it, girl, work it. I resolve to finish the WIP in a timely matter AND kick the quality up a notch. I've reached the point (at 200 pages) where I see what the story is really about and I know the characters well. I know the potential. It's my job to fulfill the promise.

Here's something I wasn't thinking about so much this time last year, but I am now, so for 2007 I'm resolving to live by the Serenity Prayer. It's dawning on me (for probably the bazillionth time in my life) that the philosophy at the heart of that prayer is the key to keeping me sane. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

I'm a control freak, you see. For me, that's part of being a "good girl." I have this obsession with getting ducks in a row. Everybody's ducks. When the going gets tough, the good girl/control freak starts herding ducks. Exercise in futility. I swear, I'll end up flat on my ass with both feet in my mouth and I'm still trying to herd ducks. It only works if you're the mother duck and the ducklings are still ducklings. And even then....

I understand that goals must be achievable, and even though I won't be able to measure this one in pages or pounds, I know what kind of results I'm looking for. I've seen the top of Mount Serenity a time or two. I know what it looks like and how I feel when I'm there.

So this year I'm going to concentrate on my own personal ducks. I'm going to leave other people's ducks alone. Let me know if my ducks get in your way and I'll take care of them. If you need me to supply one of my ducks (how far can I take this little cliche?) for something--to feed hungry children or whatever--just ask. I reserve the right to say no, but you can always wave the gold star at me. You want me to bring my ducks over for a playdate with your ducks? That can be arranged. Joint efforts are good. But from where the sun now stands (and it's shining today in Minnesota!) I shall stop trying to apply my idea of order to all the ducks in the pond. I'm just not that powerful. And I don't even want to be!

Anybody else care to share any personal improvement goals for the year?