2020: Jump in! Swim!

"We are often asked to see into the future and envision where we will be six months from now, a year from now, or five years from now. What will my life look like when we meet again at the beginning of 2021?" This is how I started my recent "book bubble" through an online book promotion site.

I said "I see me standing at the computer in the corner of my office, fingers poised over letters on a keyboard, begging the board to bring my thoughts to life. I see me signing my books and interacting with my readers." I also see me staring out the window, a lot. Writing, for me, takes lots of thinking. Of getting lost in the meaning of words. Sometimes the words come quickly. Sometimes I have to beg them to make an appearance. Some say if you can see it, you can be it, or do it. I wanted to swim. I love the water. But I had always been very leery of swimming. Others were so much better at it than me. I was 24, sitting on the edge of the pool at the apartment complex where we lived at the time. I kept seeing me slide into the water, it waking over my back as I glided with my strokes from one end of the pool to the other.

I envisioned me swimming long before I got the courage to get in the pool. To this day, I'm a believer in positive imaging. Start 2020 off on a good foot, read my essay in my "Gathering, Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane," about living with purpose.

Make a plan. Put one foot in front of the other and move on along. I can see you achieving your goals. I know because though it is not with great speed or for a long duration, when given the opportunity, I can swim.