Our Romance Gems theme this month is Lucky in Love. I have to say I was lucky to find my husband of twenty years. He was a blind date, after all. Life is full of happenstance (occurring by chance) and luck. But there’s more to life than that.
Here is a blog I wrote July 23, 2015, on my personal blog. It’s something to think about.
My personal trainer told me this week that to lose weight, it takes persistence and aspiration. He probably didn’t use the word aspiration. I picked it because it happens to be the name of my favorite horse at Premier Stables—Calloway’s Aspiration—aka Dan. (You see, horses with fancy names have barn names too.)
I looked up aspiration in my Word thesaurus and got various suggestions—ambition, goal, objective, desire, and hope. For me, losing the weight I’d put on over the years had a lot of hope to it. I’ve been at this weight loss thing with the personal trainer since October, and I’m happy to report a small success, enough to keep me motivated.
But I’ve been persistent. Who knew I’d become a Zumba class member or try a fifty-five minute cycling class? (Ouch!) Cardio exercise is my friend. Right. If I’d only realized that twenty years
Looking back, I can apply persistence and aspiration to other parts of my life. It’s been thirty years since I decided life was too short and if I wanted to accomplish my dream, I’d better get at it. When I tell people I write romance novels, they are impressed. Then I start apologizing—“I’m not a bestseller. I don’t have a traditional publishing career. I can’t make a living at it.”
Why do I sell myself short?
Most people have not written a novel or a novella, let alone about twenty-one of them. And most people can’t ride a horse, especially at “my age.” When I look at it that way, I’m proud of myself!
I’m proud of my small weight loss. I’m proud of every novel I’ve written. And I’m proud I can ride an American Saddlebred horse like Dan.
It just takes a little will (aspiration) and drive (persistence).
My March Giveaway
Would you like an ebook copy of my first book, Kentucky Flame, set at an American Saddlebred horse farm?
Rules:
1. Open to everyone.
2. To be entered, leave a comment (with your email address written out) on any of the topics I mentioned.
3. Giveaway open until March 11 at 10 a.m. EDT.
4. Winner selected by Random Draw.
Head over to our Monthly Giveaway for the Romance Gems March contest.
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ReplyDeleteJan, your post reminded me of that saying, good things come in small packages. I once met an author who was at a conference with friends, who didn't write. She said tonight my friends and I are buying champagne and celebrating my pitch to an agent. She hadn't even gone in yet to pitch. The woman admitted this was her first time and they celebrated the small steps. I had never looked at it like that and thought I'm missing out on a lot of good times. So enjoy each step you take.
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ReplyDeleteI am adding your book to my TBR list!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lori!
DeleteJan this post is great and so full of truths...about life and ambition and striving for good health. All these things take dedication and perseverance.
ReplyDeleteYou should be proud of all you've done! As you say, it's more than many people have done! And I loved Zumba. It was so much fun. There's nothing like that anywhere nearby anymore!!
ReplyDeleteI love this, Jan, and I'll join you in the apologetic club. I do it all the time. But I want to borrow Bonnie's comment and say, yeah, me, too...she's exactly right.
ReplyDeleteYea for you! I have Zumba on DVD and although I used to be pretty good dancing to rock and roll, not so much Zumba LOL Think pretzel and that's a pretty good impression of me dancing to it. BUT, I love the music and I guess as long as someone is moving, then that's a good thing.
ReplyDeleteYou should be proud, Jan! Never stop doing what you love or being proud of all your accomplishments. You have many! ❤️
ReplyDeleteGood for you. I'm proud of all of us!
ReplyDeleteJan, congratulations on the weight loss. If only losing was as easy as gaining, right? I've lost recently and hope to continue doing so until I've lost quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteYou should be proud of yourself! You did all of those things because you wanted to, not because someone made you do it. :) Go you!!
ReplyDeleteKarin, email me at jan at janscarbrough.com so I can send you a free email copy of Kentucky Flame.
DeletePersistence and aspiration - all important.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a lot of accomplishments there, Jan! I love riding horses but probably haven't done it for about 25 years, and had to give up Zumba after my knee replacement. I'm jealous! Congrats on the weight loss and all those books!
ReplyDeleteYou're a winner in my book, Jan. Most important of all is that you never gave up but kept persisting.
ReplyDeleteNice, very motivating, good perspective.
ReplyDelete