Day 20 – 2018 AWAC

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The 2018 August Write Away Challenge

If you’re just joining us, please feel free to go back and read the previous content so you’re up to speed! Otherwise, scroll down for today’s prompt.

• 2018 August Write Away Challenge original post
• Day 1 – What book did you read over and over again as a child?
• Day 2 – Some of the things that make me happy are…
• Day 3 – Name three things you’d do if you weren’t so afraid.
• Day 4 – How easy is it for you to forgive those who have caused you pain?
• Day 5 – What are your best character traits?
• Day 6 – What grand adventure do you wish you could go on?
• Day 7 – Dear past me…
• Day 8 – If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?
• Day 9 – Your favorite movies.
• Day 10 – Did you ever run away from home?
• Day 11 – How do you indulge yourself? Do you need to indulge yourself more often?
• Day 12 – As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
• Day 13 – What would you do if money was no object?
• Day 14 – What one thing caught you off guard this week?
• Day 15 – The most terrifying moment of my life was…
• Day 16 – Do you have a plan? Do you need a plan? Have you had a plan fall spectacularly to pieces?
• Day 17 – What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
• Day 18 – How do you think others see you when they meet you for the first time?
• Day 19 – What is your most vivid memory of the kitchen from your childhood?

Keep scrolling down for today’s prompt!

Reminders before we get started:

• The prompt is to use or ignore as you wish;
• Absolutely any form of the written word is allowed;
• All participation will be on the honor system, though sharing is strongly encouraged;
• Participants will be asked to let me know each week that they’ve written daily;
• Those who do write daily for the week will have their name entered into a drawing at the end of the month for a $25 Amazon Gift Card;
• Any blogger who participates and writes every day for the month will receive a badge for your blog.
• Please send me an email or contact me to let me know you’re participating!

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Mon, Aug. 20 – Describe yourself in one word.

Becoming.

One of the best truths I’ve learned about myself and about others is that we are — each one of us — always in the process of becoming. We are in constant motion. We are change.

Consider your skin cells, which rejuvenate and replace themselves every few weeks. Your body is constantly in a state of both aging and regenerating (we are walking paradoxes!). Your body, the very physiology of who you are, is constantly living, dying, and being made new.

You are constantly becoming new.

It’s the same thing with our hearts and our spirits. It can be so easy to see someone (especially ourselves) in one moment of life and judge their behavior. It isn’t so easy to see that person from start to finish, the process of regenerating, being made new, because we don’t often see their entire journey.

With each choice we make, we are choosing who we become. If I choose today to drink coffee while I write, then maybe it’s just one morning of coffee. If I choose daily, for a year, to drink coffee, then suddenly I’m addicted (don’t judge me — there are worse addictions).

See, who we become is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. Every day that I hold unforgiveness in my heart towards another is a day that I am becoming bitter. Don’t mistake me here: There is a difference between forgiving someone and pretending nothing happened. I am a strong proponent of the former, and a fierce opponent of the latter. Forgiveness does not mean you stop struggling; it doesn’t mean the sorrow or pain is gone; it doesn’t undo what has been done. It means you’re not holding onto the wrongdoing. You’re choosing to let it go. You’re moving forward and not holding the past against another. It doesn’t mean all is honky-dorey. I could write a book about forgiveness and how we, as a culture, misunderstand it! It is vital to understand, though, that holding wrongdoing against someone doesn’t hurt them.

It hurts us.

It changes us.

So it is with all of our choices. The things we do may make an impact, whether positive or negative, on those around us; but the person they shape and mold is you… is me. And so I believe in the power of one moment, the power of choosing. We are affected by the choices of others; but we are shaped by how we respond and how we choose to deal with those things.

That is precisely the premise of Wicket Lake (whose full working title, actually, is: Becoming: The Prophecies of Wicket Lake). The young people begin a journey in chapter one — a journey of becoming villains and heroes. It’s a story all about how we think we are bound to our fates, and how that misconception rules our choices and causes us to become someone… and how we could have become something else if we’d been brave enough to stand up and say, “No; that’s not who I am.”

So there you go… I am becoming. Constantly. And every day, I see more clearly how my choices have shaped the woman I am… and the woman I’m becoming.

Blessings, friends! Happy AWACing!

From the shores of Wicket Lake,