Do you freak out too?

Okay, there's a reason for no postings for way too long: my birthday is coming up! So, am I the only person I know who freaks out around any sort of anniversary? No? Why do we do this to ourselves? It's excruciatingly painful--and really doesn't gain us more time or more energy.

Why? Now, I could wax philosophical here (and why does philosophy come in a wax?) and yammer on about perceptions of mortality--YUCK.

Instead, how about a couple of ways to avoid those horrid and exhausting and useless thoughts of: ohmigawd, I was going to, by this age: fill in the blank here. Since I haven't done: fill in the blank here I'll never do it. Or the worst: Now I'm too old to: fill in the blank here.

One way: take a deep breath and make a list of all that you have accomplished over the past six months, year, decade, whatever. ON THIS LIST INCLUDE: the normal day-to-day accomplishments: housework, job, groceries, mow the yard, the list goes on and on and as adults we do them and don't count them. But they count the most! Think about it, if you didn't do all the daily tasks, what would your life be like? Pat yourself on the back for being an adult!

And then: list all the accomplishments for your dreams and DON'T DISCOUNT. A writer and not published? Have you written and finished anything? A poem? An article? A short story? That counts, big time. Have you worked on your craft? Read a book about writing? Attended a class, workshop or conference? That counts, big time. Have you submitted anything ever? That counts, regardless of whether it sold or not, BIG TIME. COUNT COUP.

What else have you achieved? Weight loss? Healthy eating? Exercising? Pursuing a dream?

What would you consider as an achievement? If it's a big thing: selling a novel, for example, how much have you already done on the process? That's a process of mine, and I'm about to finish a strong almost draft of my novel. THAT COUNTS.

It's not always the end result that matters.