My New Year's Promises

So, I gave you my 2012 wrap up and those were super exciting. (insert laugh) 

So, today is a new day, tomorrow is a new year, so now I give you…my New Year's Promises. 

These are not resolutions, per se, but promises to myself, for myself, by myself. Why promises and not resolutions? Well, for one, I like to mix it up. Dare anyone ever call me a follower. I am not. I march to my own beat. Always have, always will. People either love me, or ignore me. Either is fine with me. I will never be just like anyone else. And why should I? Or anyone for that matter?

I digress…the definition of resolution is the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones, answering, or solving. There are other sure, like mathematical resolutions, literary resolutions, scientific resolutions, and even political resolutions. My point is, I am not breaking anything into simpler parts. Oh no. I am instead trying to alter parts or add parts to the already existing or broken parts. I will not be resolving anything this year. 

I will promise. Promise is defined as a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified. Yes. This. Promises are something intimate and binding. They are things that, if done, can change a life. So this is what I will do. I owe myself this much. I will make myself promises for the coming year. 

And I am writing them here, posting for all to see, so you all (as well as me) can hold me accountable. If you see me violating or breaking my promises, please call me on it. I mean it. That's what friends and fellow humans do. They lend a hand. 

Here we go, in no particular order.


• I will finish my WIP and write a second Women's Fiction manuscript.
• I will continue to query the hell out of Princess Paradox.
• I will write every day…okay, maybe 5 out of 7 days. Even if it is a paragraph.
• I will attend one writer's conference.
• I will not be afraid of agents. They are people too.
• I will visit at least 3 of the writer friends I have made.
• I will not compare myself to other writers or other published books.
• I will blog more.
• I will read at least one book for fun a month. (I read a lot as a teacher already)
• I will be the best damn teacher I can be. Those kids need me, and I need them. And on the days where I want to come home and cry, I will remember why I became a teacher in the first place.
• I will try to believe in myself more.
• I will start running again until I get to the point where I can run 3-4 miles regularly (like I used to)
• I will embrace my new found independence without fear and try to risk more.
• I will put my heart out there, even if it means it gets broken.
• I will make the amount of time I spend with my daughter quality time.
• I will laugh more.
• I will continue to love hard. Because otherwise, what's the point?
• I will try not to obsess over things I cannot control.
• I will believe that life has a way of working out, things may not turn out how you planned, but there is a reason for it.
• I will look at rejection as a new opportunity.
• I will do random acts of kindness for strangers at least once a week.
• I will call my dad more.
• I will call my friends more.
• I will spend more time doing things for me.
• I will explore my world more.
• I will do something that scares me at least once a month. 
• I will try to give myself a break. (thanks Jules!)
• I will not give up if I do not get an agent.
• I will have faith that this amazing thing that I have WILL work out. 
• I will pray more and doubt less.

So, that's all. Not much. I have a lot of work to do this next year…but everything is possible, right?

Happy New Year to all of you. May it be blessed with all the wonders and joy this world can bring. Love to you.

So, in the words of Semisonic:

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.