A look back….

As I’ve gotten older, I find myself in a reflective mood this time of year. The current year is drawing to a close, the New Year is just over the horizon. Since I’m such a lesson-oriented person with a mix of goal-making obsession thrown in, I wanted to look back on this year at the highs – and lows – and see what I can learn to guide me into 2019 with a brighter, enthusiastic mindset.

Since being positive is such a good thing, let’s start with the good things that happened this year.

1. I had 4 – FOUR!!! – books published through 2 publishing houses. Okay, so 3 of them came out into the world within 6 weeks of one another and I almost had a nervous breakdown from the promo aspect of all that… but 4 books!!!
2. I traveled to some new places-to-me: Iceland,  Denver, and Bermuda. Can you find more diverse weather and cultural  locales, peeps?
3. I was featured in the HEA column of USA today – a writer’s dream come true, believe me!
4. I was  the featured author in a wickedly popular You-Tube podcast titled TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK.
5. I met one of my heroes, Jack Canfield.
6. I met some of my writing idols at RWA 2018.
7. I celebrated my 58th birthday and my 31st wedding anniversary.
8. I reconnected with my mother.
9. My darling daughter got engaged to the perfect man for her! ( and I swear I’m gonna use this picture on the cover of my next book!

And of course, there were things that weren’t so great that happened that need to be listed.

1. I was dropped by one of my publishing houses after submitting 3 book proposals that they passed on.
2. I received some not very flattering reviews for a few of my books ( and yes, they were outnumbered in droves by the positive ones, but the negative ones are the ones you ALWAYS remember)
3.  My darling mother-in-law died after a long, long illness.
4. I gained another 19 pounds after being hypnotized to lose weight. Yeah…I can’t figure that one, either.
5. The world around us is very dark and scary right now with the way things are being run in this country. I am trying to be hopeful for the future, but it’s hard.

I am happy and hopeful to see that there were more good things listed above than bad things.

So, I look forward to starting 2019 renewed, recharged, and delighted with the potential happiness the year will bring.

Happy New Year, peeps  ~ Peg