We’re always told to plan ahead, look to the future, and keep our eyes on the goal. For me, though, that’s pretty terrible advice. I tend to be like the guy in the picture. There I am, up on the ladder, gazing into the future, and my feet aren’t on the ground of the present. I can imagine myself having lots of speaking engagements, or selling lots of books, or whatever. I have what I would call goals, but I’m not very good at being sure that TODAY, right now, I’m doing what needs to be done that will move me along the way to the desired result. As I say in the chapter on “Motivations, Goals and Desires” in my book (see sidebar for ordering information), “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
So, in an effort to work directly on the goal of getting speaking gigs, yesterday I made two phone calls. (Regular readers will remember how much I hate making phone calls.) One was to my in-laws’ church. They have a great women’s ministries program, and while they run Bible-study classes all the time they also have more general-interest classes in the fall. One year, for instance, they had a cake-decorating class. So, I thought, maybe they’d be interested in having me come in and do some sessions on my penetrating insights about food, body types, avoiding sugar, why Daniel wasn’t a vegetarian . . . I can go on and on about these subjects. Guess what? I ended up having a cordial conversation with one of the women on the ministries committee, and she was extremely interested. I also called and got the information from the Arapahoe County Libraries about how to submit a proposal for a program through them. Again, I got hold of a very interested, cordial woman who told me exactly what to do. So now I need to post a few videos. Jim’s camera is perfectly capable of making them, but the sound quality isn’t great. So he got busy and ordered me a reasonably-priced lavalier microphone which should come tomorrow. I need to put together two or three five-minute presentations, and then I’ll be able to say, “If you’d like to get an idea of my speaking style, go to my website.”
Jim just left for most of the evening, so I have a nice block of time that I can use to work on the video material. That is, I can use that time if I don’t allow myself to get totally absorbed in yet another Jesse Falkenstein mystery, an indulgence I’ve spent w-a-y too much time on in the past couple of weeks. Once I start one, I can’t seem to stop until I’ve finished. Good thing I’m a fast reader, I guess. (Jesse Falkenstein is the creation of a writer named Elizabeth Linington, who wrote this particular series under the pen name of Lesley Egan. Jesse is a lawyer who ends up turning private detective in each book. There’s a bit too much talk about psychic communications for my taste–any amount would be too much, actually–but the plots are well crafted and the characters are really adorable. Good old Sergeant Clock, with his “prognathous” jaw, who ends up marrying Jesse’s sister, and Nell, Jesse’s wife, with her long hair in a “fat chignon,” and the Gordon twins who run his office, and old Mr. Walters who shows up periodically to tell Jesse that he’s not using his brain, and of course the two dogs, Athelstane the mastiff and Sally the Pekinese who scares off a burglar and therefore wins the heart of Sgt. Clock. I had remembered Sally as a Chihuahua, but perhaps I’m prejudiced. And the whole 1950’s vibe, where women automatically quit work when they get married if they possibly can do so. It’s all great fun, but probably for me a bit too much like potato chips. If I were smart, I’d cancel all the ones I have on hold at the library and put a firm embargo on buying any more of them for my Kindle, but I’m not quite that strong-minded. Thankfully, there aren’t more than about a dozen titles in the series.)
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