Thursday's Twisted Links

Since it lands on Thanksgiving, of course this week's twisted link needs to start with my favorite "eating" holiday. #:0) So here goes. This week's odd set of links is:

Thanksgiving.         Red Dawn.         Migraines. 

Yes, I know. Blood may shoot out of my eyes on this one. But I'm going for it anyway.

What could be better than a holiday that celebrates life in all its forms. Thanksgiving isn't about being thankful for stuff, though I'm certainly thankful for chocolate cream pie! It's a time to reflect on the bounty of our lives. Our health, our family and friends, and the ability to pursue success and happiness. We celebrate these things because we understand there is no guarantee that we will have them tomorrow. In fact, I wake up many nights terrified of losing the right to pursue those joys in life.

That's where the movie Red Dawn comes in. I haven't seen the current remake yet (I'm going today!), but I'm familiar with the story line. To me, the idea of something external, beyond my control, taking over my life and forcing me to do something is horrifying. But the thing that calms my fears is knowing there's a way out. I'm perfectly willing to fight for that way out (which is probably why I love writing romantic suspense so much). But I need to know it exists.  I don't want anybody making my choices for me. I suffered that when I was a child. But I'm an adult now and I want to forge my own path in life. I have that right. That's what's so cool about the movie, Red Dawn. In the movie a small group of young people refuse to just succumb to the usurpation of their world. They fight for the people they love and for the freedoms our forefathers died to give us. I think that's a very uplifting message and I embrace it. I'm thankful that stories like this exist.

Which brings me to migraines. I've suffered them since I was in high school. They pretty much suck. Like any health issue, a headache isn't planned or welcome, but I do believe that what I would call internal challenges such as physical pain make us stronger in the end. Over the years I've learned what I need to do to work my way through a migraine and I have some measure of control over how much they debilitate and their duration. I met the enemy and I...well...kind of conquered it. As long as I know I can do that I'm okay. I'm thankful even for my pain because it teaches me to be proactive, strong, and resilient.

So life is to be embraced, appreciated, and celebrated on Thanksgiving and every day. With the right attitude, life can be enhanced by the external things that threaten us. Meeting those threats head on strengthens and frees us from our fears.  And life is improved by internal challenges like pain and illness, because they help us appreciate the things that are really important, instead of focusing on the negatives all the time. Which brings me to the end of my link. (That snapping sound you heard was the sound of the link closing!)

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

In Life, are you a Plotter or a Panster? And are you Happy About it?

Nope, I'm not talking to authors...or at least not in the capacity of their jobs as writers. I'm wondering how people go about living their lives. Are you the type of person who gets up every day with a short range plan embedded inside a long range plan? Do you make lists, check each thing off as you move through your day, and feel either inadequate or proud at the end of the day according to how you did on that list? Your list could be a mental one, it doesn't have to be written down. (I used to write mine down but eventually I went underground with it...lest I risk having a scarlet A for anal retentive branded on my chest.)

Or do you have a flower child hidden beneath your skin? Do you move through your life like a dandelion in a soft breeze, weaving this way or bending that way...according to how you feel in the moment or what life throws your way?

Maybe you've been both, as I have. Perhaps you were a panster in your youth, but as you got older you decided you had way too much to do to stay free like the wind, or something loomed large enough in your dreams to require a pathway for achieving it.  That would probably describe me. Actually, nowadays, I try to wear both hats, just as I do in my writing.

Interesting that. Hmmmm. (Extreme moment of self-realization...pain, angst, terror...okay, I'm good now.)

I used to make scrupulous lists, on paper, each day, and carefully cross out each item as I completed it. When I got ready for bed I'd catalogue my failures (never my successes of course #:0) and mentally add them to the list for the next day. The result of that was that I was almost never pleased with my output for the day, and some days, life got to be nothing more than just a big race to the finish line.

With age came great wisdom... No, really! I'm very wise. Okay, now stop that smirking...right now. If I have to stop this car you're gonna get it! Why I aughta...

Ahum, anyhooo, I'd love to tell you that I stopped making lists. That I float through life with a smile on my face and a song in my heart, but the reality is that, for me, a strong Type A personality (yes, the secret's out!), living like a 60s hippie would give me angina rather than a smile. I'm not talking about the not showering part (hehehe, don't try to deny it!) though that would certainly crimp my style, I'm talking about the whole concept of just sitting back and hoping for the best.

In my world, if you want to get from point A to point B, you really need to get off your tukus and plot that journey. It's highly unlikely you will happen upon it by accident. The great GPS in the sky is unlikely to drop on your head and bark out directions for achieving your goals. (Turn right here...turn RIGHT HERE...recalculating) And it's even less likely that somebody will pick you up and carry you to the destination of your choice. You need to get there on your own.

Now, of course, that assumes you have a destination in mind. If you don't, that's cool. I can admire a free spirit...I just can't be one. #:0)

So what about you? Do you have a burning desire to accomplish a set of goals, both short and long term, in your life? Or are you just as happy watching the sun set and listening to the bees buzz in your backyard? Either way, I urge you to find your happy place and do your best to expand it.

Life's way too short to bind yourself in self-imposed misery.