An object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.

I think this could also be said of human motivation and work. If you are motivated and working you tend to stay motivated and working, and if you stop, it takes force of will to get yourself started again.

So I think the best plan is not to stop. 🙂

It’s difficult to do everything that I want to do. I want so many things. I want to do so many things and I want material things. I asked Matt how to juggle the desire for material things with the desire to not become materialistic. I thought he had a very good answer. He said that it is a balance. He said that if you say you don’t want anything then you are living a lie. It’s natural and okay to desire things. But at the same time, you still help people and treat people with kindness and respect. I liked this answer.

Because I was thinking of all the things I wanted. My list of desires:

1) I want to own my own successful business writing novels on the web. And I want the sisters to work together and make lots of money so all of our families are well provided for. And this part may seem silly, but I really want an office that I can decorate! Isn’t that too bizarre? But there ya go. I already have large portions of the office laid out and decorated in my head. I see things in stores and think, “That will look so good in the future office of the future successful publishing company that I own and operate with my sisters.” I want cool, well-organized bookkeeping files for the future successful company as well.

2) I want to write novels that ring like poetry. I want to write stories that will live deep in the soul. I want to transform sentences into sonorous flowers and novels into lush gardens in which the reader can smell the scent and feel the air.

3) I want my home to be peaceful, homey, clean, and full of warmth. And I want all the clutter to be gone. I want it to be organized and simple-ish. I realize that I can’t be entirely simple because I like stuff, but I want it to be lot less cluttered and a lot more simple than it currently is. I want warm colorful walls, inviting furniture, and plants everywhere. I want a home that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and I certainly don’t have that right now. My house makes me cry. It is always messy and very very uninviting– it is a place that I run from at the moment, and that’s very sad.

4) I want to wear cute clothes. I really really want to wear cute clothes. Witchy clothes. Flowing dresses that remind people of wind, vibrant jewelry, and pink lips. I am sick (very very sick) of being an unremarkable, beige piece of paper. I hear my destiny calling.

5) I want to explore my spirituality. I hear whispers in my heart beckoning me down that path.

These are my main desires. I go to bed with them buzzing around in my head, and I wake up in the morning still thinking about them ceaselessly.

Now. This moment. The first step. The next step. Only now. Only now exists.

It’s 10:30am GMT at the Woodings Household in Lincoln, Lincs. England, and I am the only one awake at the moment. We sung in the New Year with Damian and Sarah. I learned that Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish song and that the New Year is more of a celebration than even Christmas for the Scots. Now I would like to go to Scotland for the New Year one year. 🙂

We watched a Scottish show that counted down to the New Year, and the presenter said something that I liked: “If there was anything you meant to do or anything you meant to say in 2003, it’s too late now. It’s the New Year.” I always considered the New Year as a time of hope and renewal. But I think I shall now also consider it a time of letting the past go. Whatever I had wanted to say or accomplish in 2003, well… it’s too late now. Let that go and proceed forward with a fresh mind and fresh heart.

Matt made a wish for the New Year and I made resolutions. Matt wished the things would go well for us– that 2004 would be a good year for us. I made a few preliminary resolutions:

1) Lose 1 lb each week. (I have enough thoughts on this subject for entire entry– not only on gaining weight, but on people’s perception of overweight people and the crippling psychological effect that has.)

2) Write 5 pages each day, Monday through Friday.

3) Clean 1 thing each day.

I also want to put something in there about training Lani, but I haven’t worked that one out yet. She needs to be trained because she is such a busy and inquisitive dog, and I also feel like her potential is being wasted. If I took the time to train her, she would be an amazing dog and we would have a tighter bond.

I talked with Matt’s friend, Simon, and his wife more on this trip to England. I really like those two. They are unpretentious, open, smile and laugh a lot, and like dogs. 🙂 If we ever did manage to visit England in the summer, I would like to visit them. They live in Derbyshire (that would be where Mr. Darcy comes from), and apparently it’s very peaceful and pleasant there.

And speaking of peaceful, Damian took us, as well as Allison and Ben, on his canal boat for an afternoon on the canals. It was so nice! I recommend that for anyone who is visiting England. Look up the canals and canal boats as an idea for something to do while you are here. It was peaceful and wonderful. You’ll have to learn how to operate the locks and the etiquette between the boaters on the canal, but that shouldn’t be too hard. We learned all that in an afternoon. And don’t be in a hurry. I think you can walk faster than canal boats travel, but it is very peaceful.

Finally, we met Ben’s girlfriend, Allison, on this trip, and Matt and I both really like her. If she is to be my sister-in-law one day, then I am very pleased. 🙂

Happy New Year. :))