Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or something else? I have written about this topic twice before, but alas, it’s that time of year once again, and I always get questions. (Plus, one of my better posts on the topic was a whole three years ago, and many of you weren’t readers back then, so…time for a refresher.) Let me start out with my disclaimer: though I naturally think that my point of view makes complete sense, it is indeed MY point of view and I have great respect for other opinions, even if they differ. To each his or her own, you know? December always seems like a strange month. The…
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Time For Fitness
I get this a lot: “OMG Melisa! You’re so busy, and yet you still exercise! How do you find time??” Answer? I don’t find time. I MAKE time for fitness. You can too, if you really think about it. If it’s something you truly want to do, you’ll do it. Oprah does it, and she’s a pretty busy lady. (Just sayin’.) If you’re the type of person who gets up early for work or kids, and then you’re goinggoinggoing all day long until dinner time, when you have to feed your family and then help kids with homework or clean house or have a social life, you could get up…
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On Kindness
Now that the holidays are upon us, it’s a really good time to start thinking about making good manners and consideration for others a habit so that when the holidays are over, we will be fostering a better environment in the world around us without thinking much about it. Wait…do you think you don’t have any issues with kindness? It’s possible that you don’t, of course, but sometimes–because most of us are so busy all the time–we become very emotionally impulsive and less thoughtful without even realizing it. I performed a little experiment last night and I challenge you to do something similar. I had to stop at the grocery…
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It’s Never Too Late.
Last week I had the opportunity to speak about my book to a group of senior citizens at a local church. It was my first “real” speaking engagement. I have never liked speaking in front of groups generally… …although I have no problem wearing spandex-y workout clothes and a microphone headset while I sweatily teach cycling to large groups of people, go figure… …oh, and I did earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, something that involves speaking in front of large groups, and taught second graders every Sunday for fourteen years, whatever… …but I really don’t like being in front of lots of people. Anyway, I was pretty excited…
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Ten Things You Should Know If You Want To Publish A Book
It seems like the number of people who dream of becoming a published author has skyrocketed over the last few years. Of course, it might be the company I keep, but I don’t really think so. I have found for the most part, both in one-on-one conversations and group settings alike, that people have very different ideas about whether their dream of getting published is attainable, how much work is involved in doing so, and all kinds of details in between. I am often asked broad questions like “How did you get your book published?” and “How did you find your publisher?” I am also asked more specific questions like…