Focus on your goals

Tuesday 7:44pm 5Sept06

I was trolling around on the internet last night. Just looking for I don't know what, inspiration possibly. I found this oracle that you run your mouse over until the cursor turns into a hand. The message was: Direct your energy toward reaching your goals instead of wasting it in anger or resentment.

It felt appropriate for me. Some times I get so focused on the garbage in life and forget to replace my thoughts with the better stuff. When I worked in day care, the majority of my kids swore. They were 10 years old and up. I told them that I didn't want to hear them swear anymore because there was no need for a 10 year old to be using that kind of language. I wanted them to create new words or new ways of swearing. So whenever I got frustrated in front of them I'd say, "Oh rickin rackin schnicken schnacken." It was from a dog in a cartoon that always got into car accidents. Penelope Pitstop was one of the characters. I can't remember the name of the cartoon.
That soon became the new way to swear in the room. It became easy for them to not swear because they had something to replace it with.

Directing my energy toward reaching my goals is exactly the kind of replacement I need. There used to be a time when I worked in retail that I couldn't get frustrated by rude customers or gossipy childish co-workers because I always had the thought foremost in my mind that my purpose is to write. I lost that focus but I'm slowly getting it back again.

Focus on one thing. Focus on a character. Focus on a page of my novel. Whatever it takes to get me through and use my energy wisely.

off to work on that goal...
EY