dailyprompt – Page 8

Staying Motivated

One thing I have learned when learning something new and to stay motivated at the task at hand is to focus. Distractions are aplenty since I have a mind that loves to jump around and to run from one thing to the other. I liken it to a monkey!

Taming it is hard. Getting it to behave is next to impossible. The only thing I can do is to FOCUS and TRY not to get distracted. It is helping and lately, the “monkey” seems to understand and sits patiently while I go about doing what I need to get done.

New things are hard enough because the outcome is unknown and it takes concentration and effort to bring it to the finish line. I’m working on my novel currently and I find that staying motivated is a next to impossible task. My thoughts get muddled, I don’t know where to go next, how to make it all come together and even though I have over 250 pages finished, I am stuck! Moving forward is like wading through mud and I tend to put it aside until something new hits me but for now, it is a lost cause. I have too many things going on in my life right now and motivation is standing at the zero level.

I’m hoping that things will settle down and I can get going again.

Fingers and toes crossed!

The Three Fates

I picked this book up not really knowing much about Nora Roberts. Romance novels were my thing and when I came across this title, I wasn’t sure what it was about and I knew even less about the author at that time.

Little did I know that I was in for a surprise and of the best kind. The book captured all my senses hook, line, and sinker! Not many books do that. It wasn’t a historical novel or a classic, but it packed a punch and how! I couldn’t put it down and I read it from cover to cover in a very short amount of time. Then I went looking for more of her books and she had plenty.

Who is Nora Roberts? She is an American romance novelist and she is one of the most successful and prolific authors of the genre. I love her writing, it draws you in, it captivates, and it keeps you there wanting more. Roberts received the lifetime achievement award from the Romance Writers of America.

My first introduction to this writer was through the book I mentioned above. Irish siblings Malachi, Gideon, and Rebecca Sullivan try to acquire three heirlooms that were stolen. This chase takes them across continents and the intriguing plot with romance thrown in keeps readers more than engaged. I became a fan after reading this book and I think I own most of her books as well.

It was an unassuming title but the book completely surprised me. The writing was superb and the storyline fascinating. She has a knack for romance and she does it like no other writer I have known. Well, Danielle Steele comes close but I like Nora Roberts better. Just a matter of taste I suppose.

Daily writing prompt

What’s a book that completely surprised you?

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My Regular Fitness Routine

How can you build a regular fitness routine? Start out by knowing why you’re doing it. I do it for myself, not for anyone else. Knowing this, I work at what makes me feel good, if it fits my schedule, and if the workout routine adds or detracts from how I feel. This is important. If it makes you feel like you are not ENOUGH, there’s that word again, then it is time to look for something that works for you.

I start slow, no gung ho moves here, meaning being over-zealous. It is easy to get caught up in different workouts because you are motivated but that motivation fizzles out at some point and sometimes quickly, so start slow, take your time, know what works, what makes you feel good, and go from there.

My routine embraces different formats. I do cardio, strength, yoga, and Pilates. Not all at one time but some days I get ambitious and I go for all of it. My body lets me know the next day what I did wrong! Add breathing, walks in nature, eating right, and that about sums up my routine. It works for me. I’m exactly where I need to be, weight-wise, and I feel good. However, I work out seven days a week because a day without workouts is like a day without sunshine for me. That’s me, this doesn’t work for everyone.

Get motivated, stay motivated, add routines that work for you, watch your progress, and most of all DO NOT overdo it. Consistency is the key and knowing what you want to achieve the other. Oh, one more thing, think of working out as doing something good for your body because it’s a temple and you, my friend, are the goddess!

Daily writing prompt

How can you build a regular fitness routine?

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Charlotte’s Web

Do I think it is overrated? I don’t think it is overrated but in some aspects I do agree with the critics that it is a difficult plot to comprehend compared to modern day children’s books. The pace is slow-moving and at times boring. Add to that the somber theme of the death of a character and it is definitely different from normal children’s books.

However, when I first picked it up and stepped into it, it drew me in like a magnet. I found that the characters, Wilbur, Charlotte, and Templeton were relatable and the fact that they spoke was right down my alley! Most of the stories I write are about animals that speak and so I didn’t find it surprising at all. The story did cover some complex themes but it was done in such a masterful way that I hardly paid any attention to it. Life, death, and friendship were woven into the fabric of the story and although some people objected to the subject matter, especially of death, I found it fascinating.

This book has remained a favorite for young readers even though it was released decades ago. I think it is the timeless quality it embraces, one of dream-like characters and the gentle quality of a well-told story.

Overrated? I don’t think so but maybe in some aspects.

Another Hard Question

I haven’t really paid much attention to underrated people in history but since you asked I did go looking and found a whole slew of them! I’ve narrowed it down to three here.

Rosalind Franklin

She is the silent genius whose work with “x-ray diffraction images of DNA was pivotal in understanding its structure.” James Watson an American biologist and Francis Crick were credited with the discovery of DNA but the truth is, they relied heavily on Franklin’s data to get the job done. Her contribution was overshadowed in a male dominated society at the time. However, her story is a powerful reminder of how women contributed to science but were not given the recognition they deserved. Things have changed since then and let’s hope it doesn’t go backwards again because of you know who.

Claudette Colvin

She was someone who at just 15 years of age courageously challenged racial segregation. Rosa Parks is a well-known name but Colvin? It seems that the incident with Claudette Colvin happened nine months before the Rosa Parks incident. Claudette refused to relinquish her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white woman. Her brave stance at a time when unjust laws were the norm was truly courageous even though she didn’t get the recognition she deserved.

Katharine Johnson

She was a pioneer of sorts. Ms. Johnson shattered racial and gender barriers by working at NASA during segregation. More importantly, she “calculated the flight trajectory for John Glenn’s historic orbit and helped ensure the success of the Apollo II moon landing. A brilliant mind but her contributions only came to light at a much later time through the film Hidden Figures.

Let’s get some easier questions please!

Daily writing prompt

Who are some underrated people in history?

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Benefits of Minimalist Living

Now, that I’m learning to live with less and removing clutter as much as I can, I find that I have less dust catchers and more room to breathe! I never realized how much I have collected all in the name of wanting to dress better, having a nicer place and to just add to the mayhem!

I’m not all the way there, mind you, but I am working on it. One of the benefits of living a minimalist lifestyle and perhaps the biggest one is that I can find stuff. When once they were lost between other stuff that I didn’t need but loved looking at, now I can reach for something and know exactly where it is at.

The next benefit is that I spend less money. I no longer buy things just for the sake of buying or because it catches my eye. It is now about whether I need it, will I put it to good use, and should I be throwing money out the window simply on a whim.

Additional benefits include less time spent cleaning, no more impulsive spending, my focus is clearer and on things that matter, for example my personal growth. My living space is not as minimalist as I would like it to be but it is getting there. Mental clarity is taking over and it is not so much about material possessions anymore. Best of all, I don’t have to spend a lot of time cleaning.

I think I like this minimalist way of living, however, it is going to take time to get all the way there. The other thing is I don’t know if I am cut out for this kind of living but who knows, I might just come to love it or I might say, let’s move on to the next trend. Only time will tell.

Daily writing prompt

What are the biggest benefits of minimalist living?

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Fairies, Elves & Little People!

Photo by Firman Marek_Brew on Pexels.com

As a little girl I was fascinated with a world I didn’t understand. Story books would bring them to life and I walked right into a world that was fascinating, hard to comprehend, and one that got my creative juices running on a maximum high! Yes, even as a young girl.

The forest behind my house was a perfect playground for a girl who viewed everything with different eyes. I saw little people under mushrooms where there was none, I saw beauty in the deep, dark, rows of trees, and I saw fairies flying around everywhere I looked. Of course, I pretended to be one as well!

It was an obsession I couldn’t shake off. The ducks became my friends as I jumped in the dirty water puddles with them and “quacked” happily. I was one with nature and I have remained one with nature through the years. Only now, it is on a more sedate level. I walk, I take in the beauty that nature has to offer BUT once in a while, I think I see them! It is all in my imagination and I have plenty of that going around. It helps to keep my world a wonderful place to be in.

No more jumping in water puddles, not that I don’t want to but because I am a grown-up now and I do the “adult” stuff. BORING! I can still do the other thing in my mind and that is where I go to when I want to escape into a realm where magic is possible and a wondrous world awaits.

Daily writing prompt

What’s a thing you were completely obsessed with as a kid?

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The Most Interesting Local Custom

I would say it was how the Chinese looked at death and how they celebrated someone’s passing. I was in Singapore at the time and I found the burial rituals of the Chinese people fascinating and at the same time bizarre.

My two friends from Kansas were visiting at the time and one day they took off on their own to do some sightseeing. They came back all excited because they had taken part in a colorful parade of some sort. According to them, there was a long procession and they joined in taking pictures as they went along. There were two men on stilts with brightly colored faces and at the front of the procession a car all dressed up as well. Turned out it was a funeral procession!

The other custom according to a Chinese friend is the belief that the dead do come back to visit after seven days. Hair-raising? Absolutely. Anyway, she told me about her father who had passed away and on the 7th day they prepared all his favorite dishes, set the table, laid new sheets on his bed and made sure all was ready for his spirit to visit. Later in the evening she described how there was a floral scent that permeated the whole house and even though the food looked like it was untouched, the bed looked like it had been slept in!

One other thing I recall is the wake. It is usually accompanied by a band, loud music, alcohol consumption, and laughter. If the person was wealthy, it would last for seven days. Something to do with the number 7? I don’t know but this custom was bizarre to say the least. Along with the merry-making, lots of paper money, paper houses, paper servants would be burned so that the departed soul would have plenty in the afterlife.

There are plenty more customs but the ones I’ve mentioned definitely do take the cake as far as “interesting local customs” are concerned. At least in my book.

Daily writing prompt

What’s the most interesting local custom you’ve encountered?

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My Ideal Life

Good question but the answer is hard to come by. I would say first and foremost a peaceful existence. One where stress is nowhere to be seen AND with a good man by my side. Yes, I’m still looking but it looks like the guy has lost his way and is not asking for directions!

Anyway, I was talking to a friend this past weekend and our conversation turned to life and love. We hadn’t seen each other for a long time ever since we broke up. However, we still keep in touch and there is a strong bond there. We were sitting outside in the garden when the conversation eventually turned to us and what went wrong there. He said, “I haven’t forgotten about you. You are on my mind a lot.”

There is this certain something that pulls at us and neither one of us can put a finger on it. There is certainly love there, he is down-to-earth, and we just click on so many levels. It was my turn and this is what I said, “I’m not looking for spectacular or perfect. Just someone quiet, someone who meets me halfway, and when I look at him, it feels like HOME. Is that too much to ask for?”

HIM: “Definitely not.”

He is in Turkey now on business and we have decided to go to lunch when he gets back. I did ask him to think about what he wants, really wants. We’ve done this breaking up and getting back together several times now and I need to know what this is about.

Coming back to the question in hand, my ideal life would run on an even keel. No nasty surprises, no problems, no ups and downs, no breakups, no falling down and getting back up again, and no losers! I want love to find me and when it does or rather when he does, it will feel like HOME!

Too much to ask? I don’t think so.

Daily writing prompt

If you had to describe your ideal life, what would it look like?

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The Best Concert?

Concerts are a thing of the past. I can’t stand loud music, glaring lights, and the surge of crowds as they press against you to get a better view of the stage. Those days are water under the bridge. However, a long time ago I was at a concert and I recall that I was in the front row and my blond beauty of a friend had a total crush on the guy but I can’t remember his name! I only know that she was screaming so loudly that I felt my ears go numb! Plus, I had a headache the day after.

My son is into rock concerts and going to live performances is all the rage. He loves the head-banging variety. I can’t understand why he would want to be there amidst the huge crowd bopping along but I guess “music” is different to every generation. The concerts he goes to are usually loud and since I am a “recluse” now, noise is not to my liking. I love the peace and quiet so I am glad that those days of tagging along to see whoever we had a crush on are over with.

I wouldn’t mind going to a stand-up comedy show. It’s something I am into now. When I need some cheering up, I turn to the funny variety to bump my mood up. It usually works.

Nothing fascinating to talk about but that’s the way it is when your world revolves around nature, meditation and the like. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Daily writing prompt

What is the best concert you have been to?

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