2011 sacrifice , time , writing 0 Comments

To become the best writer you can possibly be, you have to put a lot of time and effort into the craft, which involves a lot of hard work, persistence, and one other thing–sacrifice.

Your time, that is.

In order to reach your goal to become a published, successful author, and to turn your dream into a reality, you have to deny yourself time with your family, friends, going out, and so forth. Sure you’ll venture out to do the mundane things such as grocery shopping, running errands, clean house, preparing meals, laundry–blah, blah, blah. You may even sometimes go out to dinner or have a short visit with your neighbor. Maybe even take a walk with your significant other and stop for a soft served ice cream cone. Those are the things I do, but honestly, I rarely get out of town or away from the computer or a book. Unless, of course, I need a break, or when my favorite shows are on (Vampire Diaries and Supernatural). I personally don’t mind making those sacrifices, and I’m in the right place to do it because the nearest mall and major stores are an hour away. And I morbidly figure, if I die in the interim of striving to make my dreams come true, then so be it.

It’s that important to me.

That doesn’t mean I’m better than Ms. Sally Sue who is working toward the same dream, yet she goes out every weekend and takes vacations.

It’s just how I am.

I do know Kevin sometimes worries about me and maybe even wonders if my behavior is healthy. A couple times he’s joked about being a widow, and I know that’s his way of saying, "We need to spend more time together." He’s sweet because he doesn’t want to trample on my writing dream, so he tries to be subtle when he’s worried about me or wants us to spend quality time together. When he does that, it jolts my attention back to the world around me and to him.

Last weekend was one of those jolting times. I walked away from the computer, and we went on a road trip, took some pictures, and had a really nice weekend.

Here's a picture of the leaves changing. I was hoping the colors would be a lot more brilliant than that; however, it's still pretty.

I know. You might be thinking, "Big deal." But I'm still enthralled with the beauty of North Dakota. I mean, the lakes aren't 'man made'. They're real.

Look at that wonderful country road, lined with beautiful trees, and no car in sight.

We came across an old abandon church, and thought it would be cool to take a picture of it with Kevin's 1964 Ford truck in front of it. I wanted to explore inside the church, but Kevin didn't think that would be a good idea.

They have weird, but cute sayings here like: Uff-Da. We saw this shop sign, and I had to take a picture of it to show you guys.

We stopped in a small town to grab a bite to eat, and there was a classic car meeting going on. I saw this wonderful car and had to take a picture of it.

Here's this little sweetie. I wanted to take a side view picture, but didn't get the chance.

This is a nice car too. You can see the side view of it in the above picture. I love classic cars.

Kevin wanted to take a picture of his truck in front of the airplane. When his dad was in the Air Force, he had worked with those type of planes. Anyway, it's a cool plane. Too bad it's not a Spitfire.

After we got back home, we both sighed with contentment, and said, "What a wonderful weekend." I realized then I need to take more time away from the computer, and enjoy being outside. At least, until the snow starts to fall, and everybody is holed up in their house for six months. But the point is to take a day off or two and have some different kind of fun. You're still sacrificing your time to accomplish your dreams, however, you're not allowing yourself to atrophy while doing it.