Driven

When I say “driven,” I’m not speaking about driving in a car or other vehicle. I’m referring to what Drives YOU to do the things you do.

I pondered on this thought when I was setting my usual goals for this year which is normal for me to do. Each year and sometimes even multiple times during the year, I sit down planner in hand and write out a list of the top things I want to accomplish. Many times, it’s a list of 5 or so things or even more. But I try to focus on only the items I consider BIG for myself and the ones I feel I can accomplish. I also have a couple of long-term goals that I choose to be a backup plan to work on as a accomplish the more reachable tasks.

As I continued thinking of my goals, I began to explore the bigger picture. The WHY, you might say, behind my goals. This idea hit me like a ton of bricks and my thoughts became energized with fresh ideas and a newfound motivation. I love when this happens. Picture the tiny 40-watt light bulb trying to illuminate the brick pathway leading up to a doorway being replaced by a 100 Lumen spotlight allowing the path to become clearer.

To understand my thought process, (which can be scary, lol!) I will share a brief backstory about me. I am a mother of three raised in a broken home who tried to keep my own family together. I’m referring to my husband and children. But for various reasons, I couldn’t, and I became a single mother of three children.

This may sound familiar to many women; I know I’m not special in this regard. Of course, divorce is not “special” it’s hard and I won’t sugar coat it. But I remarried and thought I could give it another go and try to improve my situation and that of my kids. Only to be faced with more problems and despair when my second husband committed suicide.

Since his death, I was surrounded by memories and sometimes those memories haunted me and my kids. I became more determined or driven to break free from everything that reminded me of my late husband or my life with him.

Now comes the light bulb moment… The WHY that drives me is to be remembered by my children and even their children as the person I AM. I don’t want to be remembered by my circumstances. I want to be remembered by my accomplishments and the differences I make for others.

With that in mind, I began a new list of goals. Remember the long-term goal I had placed as a backup plan? I moved it to the TOP of my list. If I AM to be accomplished and make a difference, I must allow my light to shine and be the vessel that God has called me to be.

I now have only 2 Goals on my list for 2023 and I will only add to my list if I accomplish them.

First, my “back burner” goal of completing my novel and
Second, to publish another Anthology for the series, “Unexpected Blessings with this title being “Forgiveness”

My novel is titled: Trapped Spirit. It is Fiction based on things that happened after my late husband passed. Writing this book has been difficult for me but I’ve also found great healing through the process. Getting the thoughts out of my mind and onto paper has served as an outlet as well as a source of sorting through my confusion surrounding my life. The book is now in editing and will be released soon.

Unexpected Blessings – Forgiveness is a collection of stories from Christian women sharing how their journey to forgiving others or even themselves has brought forth many blessings. Blessings are all around us but many times we can’t see them for the clutter of events or thoughts that cloud our focus. Sometimes we must clear our vision or our goal. In order to clear my mind and focus on my goals I’ve had to do a lot of Forgiving. My chapter in this upcoming Anthology will share how I forgave myself. Until I was able to do this, I was stuck in the cycle of blaming others. Realizing that forgiveness starts within, and we are responsible for our decisions and actions is where overcoming our past begins.

Now that I understand what motivates me or my WHY – “being remembered for my accomplishments and the differences I make for others” I have my Goals for 2023 set: next I will make a plan on how I will accomplish them.

What is your WHY? Have you set goals for YOUR year? Are they goals that will make your light shine?

I’ll leave this post with the memory of a familiar verse we sing in our church, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”
Author Unknown

If you’d like to become an author in the upcoming anthology, Unexpected Blessings – Forgiveness we still have a need for a few more authors.