365 Lessons

Hello fellow Writers Risers and Writers Rising Readers! I'm so happy to be back. While I was gone you all wrote such amazing things...I read most of them, but haven't had a chance to comment on all of them. I feel this blog has a force of it's own and I'm so happy to share that with you all here. Writers Rising is so appropriate for 2010, The Year of the Tiger! I am going out on a limb on my blog Lessons from the Monk I Married. I've decided to write a lesson I have learned for every day of the year. I wanted to share my resolutions, which I normally never make or keep, with you all here so that you can hold me to it. Do you keep resolutions or have any plans for 2010? I'd love to hear about them. I am grateful to share this space with all of you. If you are visiting this blog and would like to be a contributor, please leave your contact info in a comment and I will add you here. Writers Risers, if you know anyone who would be a great addition to our fabulous list of authors, let me know. Here's what I posted on my blog. My first lesson for January 1st 2010 is "Be Disciplined" and I'll share that with you here:

O.K. I might be biting off more than I can chew, but I am ready to try. I'm ready to be disciplined. My meditation teacher, SN Goenka, always says, "Continuity of practice is the secret of success." If it works for meditation, it will certainly work for other areas of my life. My husband also tells me that success comes when you continually work on whatever you want to succeed in. When times get rough, you keep going. You have to just keep at it.

January 2010 marks my first year anniversary writing my blog, Lessons from the Monk I Married. That's a big success for me. When I started out, no one knew this blog existed. Over the course of a year, I've gotten to know so many people in the blogosphere. Though we've never met, I feel some of the people I've met here I know personally, like family. Writing for one whole year on this blog was a course in discipline for me. Near the end of this year, I felt I didn't have any more to say, but I do.

I don't like to make New Year's Resolutions because I don't always stick to them. Lesson One for this new year is about discipline, so I intend to try and stick to my resolutions this year (emphasis on the word "try").

As many of you know, I've been writing a book entitled "Lessons from the Monk I Married". This has proved to be no easy feat, but I continue. My first resolution is to have it completed and published this year. My second resolution is to write on my blog 365 lessons I've learned. These lessons I've learned will be written on a daily basis and I will finish this project on January 1, 2011. Many of these have come from walking on this path of life with my husband, a former Korean Buddhist monk. He is not a writer, but he has inspired so many with his words. Some of these words even come from Facebook status updates. I'd love to write a book just of those, but I will stay on my task here. Don't be surprised if some of those updates show up in my lessons here. It's good to point out that these are lessons I have learned, everyone has their own set. I have been sharing some of these over the past year with a positive response from so many people. If what I write benefits people in a positive way, why wouldn't I want to continue. What benefits you benefits me. We are sharing the love. If what I write doesn't resonate with you, you don't have to read it. It's your choice, just as this is my choice.

My other resolutions include sticking to my daily meditation practice and keeping up a regular yoga practice. My husband is a yoga teacher and currently teaches in my house, so that's been easy so far. This year he hopes to open a yoga studio with his friend near our house in Seattle. I'm very excited about that.

It's a little scary putting all this out there into the world, but it's about time. Hope you all will follow me on another year journey. I look forward to your comments and sharing this journey with you.

So this is the project I will be working on this year, as well as completing my book manuscript. What are you working on? I'd love to hear about it. Much peace and happiness to you all in the new year!!