Set a Goal and Exceed It.

Many moons ago, when my now 23 year old son was little, I wrote him a children’s story titled Meadow Adventure.  It grew from a drawing he did of a bunny sitting at the top of a hill, looking at a sunset.  It tells a story of survival and compassion through a chance encounter between an aged bunny, a young fox and its mother. That story (and many other finished pieces) has sat for years, waiting for me to find the courage to send any of them out for publication. 

It doesn’t matter really why I haven’t done it, whether it’s fear of rejection, lack of confidence in my writing ability, or a busy life where I didn’t make time for my writing on a regular basis.  I thought of it often and even occasionally researched some possible markets, yet never took the chance and initiative to do it with this particular story, even though deep down  I have faith that it’s a good piece. 

Then, June 7^th my oldest brother Craig, who is 61 and 11 years older than me, had his third heart attack and emergency triple bypass.  I love and respect him more than I can say, however I thought that the opportunity to learn “life lessons” from him were past.  His philosophy on life, his point of view and his “live for the moment” are all lessons I hold dear, but hold no surprise for me anymore.

Leaving his privacy intact, I will just say that events and complications on the day of the heart attack and surgery as well as previous health issues make his current status of recovery nothing less than remarkable.  He is a medical marvel!

So eight days into his medical ordeal, and just one day after coming off the respirator, he looked at me and said his new motto was… “Make a goal and exceed it.”  Wow.

There’s a LOT to come back from after a health event like he’s had.  Each day, sometimes several times a day, there is a new hurdle to be faced and overcome.  And he’s continued to do that.  Goal set. Goal met. Goal exceeded.  And without a doubt, that same drive and determination that had him live such a hard 61 years will serve him well in sustaining his new motto. 

As I sat at his bedside, and then drove the five hour trip home, my mind drifted to many parts of my life, my writing in particular.  What did I see?  Goal dreamed.  Goal planned.  Goal executed….sort of.  Earlier this year, I committed myself to making this the year I was going to strongly pursue my writing.  The craft of it. The sharing of it.  The publication of it. I’m not negating the strides I’ve made.  I have written a lot, I began my blog and I’ve gotten my appetite back for reading.    

But I could do better.  I recognize that there should always be a hurdle, whether natural or one I seek out in front of me to overcome.  Challenges to drive me forward, strengthen my skills, improve my confidence and enable me to reach heights I haven’t dreamt of. 

So I’ve set some goals to keep my writing active and moving forward.  Get Meadow Adventure submitted to a couple of places within a week.  Then, choose the next piece to get submitted or get finished by mid-July.  Keep submitting pieces.

Last month, my husband challenged me to write a story about my mom (who passed away a little over three year ago) and I in the setting of Maine, where we are vacationing this summer.  It’ll be a creative fictional piece and on the two trips back and force to my brother over the past few weeks, I began to flesh that story out in my head and started research on it this evening.  My goal is to have it outlined by the time we vacation, so it can be a working document during our travels – a writing first of its kind for me. 

What’s all this made me realize?  Goals are good.  Brothers are better.  Thank you for giving me another lesson Craig.  I can’t wait to see where your goals take you too!