Tag: 2012

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Tired of the Uneventful Weekends

January 7, 2012 jcladyluv

Today has been uneventful and I suppose that could be a good thing except for people (like me) who find themselves saying that way too often. The weekends (at least) are supposed to be eventful and full of choices and endless opportunities of things to do and people to socialize with, and hobbies to get lost in. However, because I seem to be in a current state of having to rob Peter to pay Paul and having Peter begging for his money back I find that my options of weekend fun, both for me and my daughter, are extremely limited right now. She wants to go skating and bowling and do all of these fun things that cost more money than I have at the moment (that is, if I actually want to keep the lights on) and I hate having to tell her that we just don’t have the money right now. It is my hope that in the very (very) near future I will have many eventful weekends with so much fun and excitement packed into it and that they will give me many experiences to share with you all. In fact, because I know that 2012 holds bigger and better things for me, it is only a matter of time before my weekends (and some days thrown in during the week would be nice) will be nothing but adventurous and life changing. Well I am go catch up on some reading (again, uneventful) because I am really behind. Until tomorrow…Fill your life with adventurous moments because you only live once!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Taking Care of You

January 6, 2012 jcladyluv

Ms. L reminded me of something tonight; that you can’t take care of everyone else if you don’t first make time to take care of yourself. I have a hard time doing that. I had a conversation earlier today with someone about not knowing what to do with myself during the time that my daughter is with her father. I mean I know how to make use of the time when she’s in school because after dropping her off and going to the gym everyone morning (which is probably the only thing that I really do to take care of me) I am only left with a small amount of time before having to get her from school. But when she goes away to her dad’s house and spends the night I am left with all of this time and I don’t know what to do with it.

I mean sure I write and do housework but I don’t really do anything that is solely just for the sake of having fun (or pampering myself). It’s almost like I forgot how to be me. I’m just a mom and a writer. I don’t really know how to be anyone else. It’s programmed in me and I suppose I have to search and find that something that is just for me, just for my benefit, so that I can feel like I’m being taken care of too (and if I have a little fun along the way that’s good too).

For anyone out there is feels so caught up in what they do for a living and being someone’s parent, find a way to take care of you this year. You deserve to feel pampered and you deserve to have fun (fun outside of the kids) too. It’s time to take care of you so that you can be able to better take care of the ones you love around you. Until tomorrow…Try putting yourself first every once and a while.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Having Faith in the Bigger Picture

January 5, 2012 jcladyluv

“No matter how steep the mountain – the Lord is going to climb it with you.”

~Helen Steiner Rice

I am not a stranger to struggle. I have been knocked down time and time again and even when I get back up sometimes I get knocked right back down within seconds, but I just keep on getting right back up. 2011 inparticular was a really bad year for me, quite possibly the worst I’ve had, but yet I find myself optimistic for the coming year of 2012. I heard someone earlier say that this year doesn’t feel any different than the last year but I disagree. For some reason, to me, this year feels like it will be the beginning of bigger and better things that are to come for me. Maybe it’s just the optimist in me. Maybe it’s just sheer faith in God and in the person that he created me to be.

Every time I go through something my mom constantly asks me how I can be so calm and nonchalant and not be worried about whatever it is. I tell her that I just have faith that God has got my back and that I’m not walking this journey alone as long as I am doing what he asks of me. In reality what I want to say is that I am worried (terrified really) when things start going wrong and that I am not really calm about it, deep inside I am panicking. However, I realize more and more that I have a lot more faith than even I thought I had. Of course I worry but I don’t think that I am nearly as terrified about things going wrong as I probably should be.

It’s because I have so much faith. Not only do I have an enormous amount of faith in God, but I have faith that he knows where I will end up (it is his plan after all) and just the trials and tribulations that I need to go through to get me there. Everything I come up against challenges me but it also strengthens me and obstacle by obstacle I realize that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be.

For anyone who knows me, they know that I am not the religious type, per say. I don’t go to church (although deep down I feel I probably should) but I am a very spiritual person. I don’t always get why certain struggles have to be placed on my shoulders and I admit that I get frustrated because I am that person who likes to know that everything is going be alright and hopefully that it will have a happy ending. However, because I can’t fully see what God’s plan for me is and I don’t know what will be the end result of his journey for me, I have no other choice but to walk the path that he has laid out with faith. God has already brought me through so much already, so I have to have faith that he will bring me through the rest.

My message today is for you to have faith. Even in times of struggle. Even if there is nothing that is going the way you want it to. Even if nothing that is happening to you makes sense. Even if you feel like you can’t get back up and you want to just quit. Even when you can no longer see the bigger picture for yourself. You have to have faith. We are human and we will worry but in the end you should know that God will never let you down. Until tomorrow…Have faith that you are stronger than your greatest obstacles!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

No Excuses Allowed (Anymore)

January 4, 2012 jcladyluv

“Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure.”

~Don Wilder

I was in the gym this morning and one of the guys in there (who hadn’t been there for about two weeks) strolled in to a barrage of questions from everyone else in the weight room. In our gym we look after one another and we definitely hold everyone accountable to what they say they want to accomplish by coming there. So this particular person constantly comes in the gym speaking about how he plans on being more consistent and then he will disappear for about a week. When he comes back in he talks about all of the things that threw him off of his plan to be consistent and the mistakes that he made in his diet that made him feel too guilty to come back to the gym on a regular basis. We tell him the same thing time after time. That it doesn’t matter the mistakes he made in his own plan, or that he got off track. What matters is that he corrects the mistakes and gets it together. In one ear and out the other our words go every time.

Today, for every excuse he gave me, I simply said to him “this is the year for no excuses”. He responded by saying “but I fell off, I messed up”. I told him that it doesn’t matter that you ‘fell off’ or that you made mistakes in your own plan, what will make those mistakes matter is if you give those mistakes power by never correcting them. He asked me “well haven’t you ever made mistakes in your diet and messed up and then felt guilty about it?” and I said ‘sure I mess up in my diet because I’m an emotional eater, and I’ve missed more than one or two days at the gym but I don’t feel guilty about it because I know that I am going to correct it and eventually I do’.

Now this conversation may just be in reference to going to the gym and maintaining a healthy regimen but the message applies to everyday life as well. We all make mistakes that we feel guilty about and we sometimes think that we can’t come back from whatever mistake it is but the reality is that we can and using those mistakes then becomes more of an excuse. Not one person walking this earth is perfect or goes without making one single mistake. Sometimes what makes the mistakes worse than what they really are is the fact that we keep repeating them and never do what needs to be done to correct them.

I think that sometimes we should celebrate the fact that we are imperfect beings because it will be those imperfections that strengthen our character and our determination to do the things that we were put here to do. Those imperfections allow us to realize that while we may fall down, we most certainly have the strength to get back up. So for the year of 2012, let’s try to take the attitude that we won’t make any excuses, nor will we accept any. If we make a mistake, don’t let that very mistake be a reason that we don’t correct our actions. So you fell down, so what. Sit up, get your bearings together, dust yourself off, and get back up again. It will only stay a mistake if you don’t do anything to correct it. Until tomorrow…Rejoice in your imperfections, they are apart of what makes you who you are!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

The Other Version of Me

January 3, 2012 jcladyluv

There is another side of me. I would refer to her as my other personality but then people would get the wrong idea and suddenly think that I am crazy and need to be committed (some days they might be right). Now while I do find myself communicating with my characters from one novel or another on a regular basis, I do not hear voices and speak to them and I don’t think that I have a twin version of myself that I talk to at night. But there is another version of myself that I am referring to when I speak about my other self. I am talking about the version of me that I feel that I should be by now, the version of me that I see myself becoming in the not so distant future.

That version of me is already living inManhattan,New Yorkand is on the New York Times Bestseller’s list for three out of her four published novels. She goes on at least eight book signing tours a year (and that would be a slow year). She speaks to elementary, middle, and high schools on the importance of not bullying their peers and emphasizing the impact that the bullying has on the victims. She also speaks at multiple writing seminars and networking events about nurturing the craft of writing. She has two thriving online magazines, one of which comes out in print on a quarterly basis; both of which are produced and published through her publishing company.

Her media empire would be continuously producing movies, television shows, and stage plays that promote self-confidence and self-esteem, empower women of all races, and emphasize the message of people being at peace with themselves and believing that they have the right to be (Write 2 Be) who they are; a Media empire that will eventually give Tyler Perry a run for his money. She will finally get out of her own way and start singing back up for her best friend Ms. L as she goes on her many tours and perhaps will even sing solo in small venues around town. She will be in the process of accumulating funding for her non-profit creativity camp for kids (Write 2 Be Creativity Camp) that will help promote and encourage the importance and development of the arts in children. Last but certainly not least, she will be making moves to begin opening up her local bookstore that will be like no other bookstore. Whew! This woman is busy!

It sounds like a lot, I know, but this is the version of me that I am striving to be and who I believe that I was meant to be. I know that it will take more than one year to get to that version of myself but 2012 is definitely going to be the year in which I begin to clear the path of all of the self-made obstacles that I have created over the years. It is going to be the year in which I am going to take clear and calculated steps that will further me in my efforts to becoming that person. The other version of myself (the one I want to be) is standing on the other side of a very long bridge and this year I am making my way over to her. What a journey I am sure it will be. I guess when I reach her I will let you know. What does your “other self” look like to you? Until tomorrow…Are you who you always thought you would be? If not, what’s stopping you?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Back to Business

January 2, 2012 jcladyluv

So now that it is the second day of the New Year everyone should already have their Christmas Tree taken down (or put out in case of those who actually like real trees), the decorations back in their storage space (only to be taken out next year), and the new calendar up with important dates already marked. Hopefully another thing that everyone also has is their game plan in place for the 2012. The holidays are over and now it is time to get back to the business of accomplishing the goals that you set for this year. Whatever your goals are today is the time to begin working on them. Take those plans that you began making in December of 2011 and begin acting on them as if your life depended on it, because it does. I know that I’ve got a novel to finish up and a magazine that needs to be finished and put together by the end of January (preferably before the end) so I’ve got to get moving myself. Until tomorrow…Get moving on those dreams, there’s no more time to waste!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

My New Year’s Wish for All of You

December 31, 2011 jcladyluv

I just wanted to take some time out to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I will be embracing the year 2012 with the faith that this will be a good year for me and that it will bring new adventures and experiences for me. Last year I went into 2011 saying that it was going to be a good year for me, but in the back of my mind there was always doubt there and I didn’t really believe that it would be. This year I am going to have faith and confidence that it will. I wanted to encourage everyone to embark on this upcoming year embracing the idea of change and being fearless. I pray that all of you will go into the New Year with confidence and faith that whatever you are wanting for yourselves this year will happen. Until tomorrow…Have a Safe and Blessed New Year’s Eve!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

My Writer Wish List

December 30, 2011 jcladyluv

I was thinking about all of the things that I would have loved to have gotten for Christmas. Not extravagant things, not a whole closet full of clothes (maybe just 1 new pair of jeans), not a lot of jewelry, and not expensive shoes (okay maybe just 1 inexpensive pair). The things that I would’ve liked for Christmas are all pertaining to my craft of writing. Well Christmas has come and gone and I still have my Writer Wish List without anything being crossed off so I guess that just adds another list of things that I need to strive for in the year 2012 to be able to obtain. Today I thought I would share my Writer Wish List with all of you, somewhat as a way to hold myself to the task of achieving some, if not all, of the items on the list.

A yearly subscription to the ‘Writer’s Digest’ Magazine and ‘The Writer’ Magazine so I won’t miss one single issue.
A New Laptop that doesn’t go as slow as molasses and would be able to hold some of the software that I would also like to get.
Six month’s supply of printing cartridges so I won’t run out of ink for at least that length of time.
A gift card to either a book store or an office supply store.
A set of pretty purple pens (that seems to be my favorite color to write with even though my personal favorite color is blue).
A year supply of coffee (the good stuff while we’re at it).
A stack of empty journals/notebooks with pretty covers.
The Scrivener software for writers as well the Adobe Creative Suite software.
An Agent
A new batch of customized business cards to pass out and bring in some new clients.

So that’s my Writer wish list for the New Year. So what are some of your most needed items on your Writer wish list? Until tomorrow…Hope you have all of your lists ready for 2012.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Looking for a Writing Course

December 28, 2011 jcladyluv

One of the goals on my list for the 2012 year is to take a couple of writing courses. Even the greatest of writers (which I am working on becoming) need to enhance their already impeccable writing skills. There might be techniques that they have forgotten or desire to learn and a course every now and then can be just the thing to help. I specifically would like to take a course in writing short stories because I have the hardest time writing them (possibly because I am so incredibly long-winded) and I just need some instruction in that particular area. Now I don’t know when I will be taking this course because I haven’t even found one yet, nor have I saved up the money to do it, but I am looking so if any of you out there know of any short story writing courses that they would like to recommend please leave a comment. Okay now I’ve shared one of my goals on my list for the New Year, why don’t you share one with me.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”