I’ve been blessed with good news. But I had to wait several weeks to
receive the news. When I went to the doctor a few weeks ago, blood was found in my urine. This can be caused by any number of health issues ranging from a
urinary tract infection to bladder or kidney cancer. As a result, I’ve seen the insides of several doctors’ offices, been poked, prodded, x-rayed and scanned.
We’ve all heard the expressions, “it’s not knowing that’s the worst” and “it’s the
waiting that’s the worst.” I don’t know about that. I’ve seen my mom, my step- father, my father-in-law and many of my friends’ parents grow older, more
fragile and pass away. Their illnesses were much worse than the three weeks I
just went through.
But I’ve had time to evaluate how I’m spending my life right now. I asked myself if I were sick with limited weeks or months remaining, how I’d want to spend that time. And the answer was that I wouldn't spend as much time on social media. During this thought process, it occurred to me that even if I didn't have a life threatening illness right now, I could still die in a car crash at any time. So the bottom line ended up being, I need to change how I'm spending my time.
Social media is a frenzy of marketing activity where we tend to reach other authors roaming the internet hawking their books, but we may not reach our readers. At the same time I pondered my potential health issues, fellow author Olga Nüñez Miret wrote a blog with her take on the social media fracas. I can’t do her blog justice in describing it, so you can read it here. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time.
I have made many virtual friends, for which I am grateful and will continue to support. And I will still use social media. I'm not sure yet how I'll change, but I will change my strategy. I will still write The Mystic Princess series because writing makes me happy. I’ll likely write more short stories when inspiration strikes. And I might even venture into a novel I’m thinking about at some point.
My primary goal is to figure out a way to balance my time with my family, my day job, writing and marketing in a healthier manner. If I don’t figure that out, it’s okay. I will accomplish the goal of writing and publishing my children’s book series.
But I won’t spend time using social media to market my books in a manner that isn’t working. This means when I am facing the end of my time here on earth, I won’t have regrets that I wasted time that I could have spent with my family. And, shouldn't we be living our lives in a way that allows a peaceful ending with no regrets?
receive the news. When I went to the doctor a few weeks ago, blood was found in my urine. This can be caused by any number of health issues ranging from a
urinary tract infection to bladder or kidney cancer. As a result, I’ve seen the insides of several doctors’ offices, been poked, prodded, x-rayed and scanned.
We’ve all heard the expressions, “it’s not knowing that’s the worst” and “it’s the
waiting that’s the worst.” I don’t know about that. I’ve seen my mom, my step- father, my father-in-law and many of my friends’ parents grow older, more
fragile and pass away. Their illnesses were much worse than the three weeks I
just went through.
But I’ve had time to evaluate how I’m spending my life right now. I asked myself if I were sick with limited weeks or months remaining, how I’d want to spend that time. And the answer was that I wouldn't spend as much time on social media. During this thought process, it occurred to me that even if I didn't have a life threatening illness right now, I could still die in a car crash at any time. So the bottom line ended up being, I need to change how I'm spending my time.
Social media is a frenzy of marketing activity where we tend to reach other authors roaming the internet hawking their books, but we may not reach our readers. At the same time I pondered my potential health issues, fellow author Olga Nüñez Miret wrote a blog with her take on the social media fracas. I can’t do her blog justice in describing it, so you can read it here. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time.
I have made many virtual friends, for which I am grateful and will continue to support. And I will still use social media. I'm not sure yet how I'll change, but I will change my strategy. I will still write The Mystic Princess series because writing makes me happy. I’ll likely write more short stories when inspiration strikes. And I might even venture into a novel I’m thinking about at some point.
My primary goal is to figure out a way to balance my time with my family, my day job, writing and marketing in a healthier manner. If I don’t figure that out, it’s okay. I will accomplish the goal of writing and publishing my children’s book series.
But I won’t spend time using social media to market my books in a manner that isn’t working. This means when I am facing the end of my time here on earth, I won’t have regrets that I wasted time that I could have spent with my family. And, shouldn't we be living our lives in a way that allows a peaceful ending with no regrets?
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