On Friday, I updated you on how the first month of 2020 had gone, especially in terms of my writing goal #1Mwords in2020 (one million words in 2020). I was behind – on both it and wedding preparations.

Well, nothing has changed. No big four or five-thousand word days that magically caught me up. In fact, I have fallen even further behind.

Am I throwing in the hat? Giving up on that illustrious goal? Is it hopeless? Pointless?

I don’t think so. For one thing, that goal has meant that I have kept current with all my blogging schedules. And when you have four blogs that ain’t easy, folks.

But more importantly, that goal and tracking word counts with an Excel spreadsheet motivates me to write, and to finish stories that have been out there for years on Literotica.

Even before tackling #1Mwordsin2020, I had finally finished my most popular story, Ægir’s. It took me seven years and two-hundred-fifty-thousand words, but I did it.

And I have moved on to another popular and unfinished story, Night Walker’s Woman. This story about a shapeshifter finding his mate has been out there even longer than Ægir’s. Four days longer to be exact.

So, while it might not be the stellar progress that I want or planned for, I am making progress. Real progress towards my goal of finishing off some of my stories on @literotica.

As for the wedding, well, that deadline is even more pressing. Our big day is going to come whether I’m ready or not. Besides once that is over with, I will have over half a year to get caught up with writing.

Well, except for my little old lady quilting show in August. I may suck at quilting in terms of being perfect, but I enjoy it. And I make really useful things for our @HomeCrazzyHome, like table runners. Though Alan tells me we don’t NEED table runners, I think they make our dining table so much more homey. What do you think?

To make things even worse, this month, I am focusing on my health goals. Eating better, and losing weight. Not for the wedding, but for life, so I will feel better, move easier, and have a good long time with my life partner and soul mate.

Those aren’t too bad, but the ten-thousand steps per day take a serious bite out of my time. Do you have any idea how long that takes? At least an hour, sometimes more.

Of course, I try to combine it with other goals. If the weather is nice then I take my camera (photography goals) or I pick up trash in our local park (service). And if it is raining, as it all too often is in ‘beautiful sunny Swansea,’ then I try to watch my Great Courses and improve my mind as well as my body.

But I have not figured out a way to either write, make things for the wedding, or quilt while I walk.

I admit though I feel like my life is out of balance. That I am letting my family down when it comes to our @HomeCrazzyHome. That there just is not enough hours in the hour for everything on my to-do list.

Then I remember the sage advice from one of my favorite writers and philosophers, Dr. Seuss:

“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you’ll move mountains.”

Oh, The Places You’ll Go

Growing up, I remember watching the Flying Wallendas walk tightropes across crazy places like skyscrapers and even the Grand Canyon. I was captivated.

Of course, this is a girl who is afraid of heights and likes to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground. Nonetheless, I could appreciate the beauty of what they did and the courage (or stupidity) it takes to do it.

But do you know what I noticed most? Walking a tightrope is not straightforward. They are constantly shifting their balance, leaning their arms and weight first one way and then the other.

Look at this video of a slackliner:

She is never perfectly straight, perfectly balanced. It is about leaning one way and then the other just to stay on track. I love what she said about one of her favorite experiences:

There was no way to control it. I just had to hang on.

In some ways that is what life is all about, too. No matter how many goals I set, how much is on my to-do list, it is about making constant adjustments. Sometimes I need to lean more in one direction than the other. Right now, health, wedding, and @HomeCrazzyHome are taking precedence over writing.

And sometimes, like yesterday, it is about taking baby steps in the right direction. Doing a bit of everything on your list. I might not have finished many things on that list, but I got in the most important, those ten-thousand steps, and a little bit of almost everything else.

Oh, one of the reason’s I choose this girl’s video over the Wallendas, was that she uses a safety wire. She is not doing this in aa unsafe manner. Okay, tightrope walking or slacklining as she calls it, is not exactly safe. But then too neither is life. Eventually, life is going to kill us all. One way or another.

For me that safety wire is Alan. Having someone else to draw me back from falling when I do stupidly crazy shit and over-schedule my day. Someone to tell me that I am making progress even when I don’t feel like it. And someone to tell me when to let shit go.

As much as it may not feel like I am making any progress, my spreadsheet does not lie. I have edited over fifty-thousand words and written over eighty-thousand. Not bad. More than many writers do in a whole year.

But then again, I have always been a bit of an overachiever. Perhaps never more so than #1Mwordsin2020.

Off now to edit and post the next chapter of Night Walker’s Woman. See, I told you I was getting shit done. Even if not enough to satisfy me…or my readers. So many stories, so little time.

But as Dr. Seuss says:

Will I succeed? Yes, I will indeed.

I already am. Every single chapter, every story completed, every word written is success.