I have a big list of accomplishments that I never took the time out to enjoy: at 52, I finally graduated college-cum laude with a double degree in fiction and psychology, I published a book that was very well received, I found an awesome nurse to care for my daughter with special needs, I moved to a better job-making more money than ever, I went to a conference and made a TON of new friends (I’m painfully introverted) and I started the process of buying a house. I never celebrated the victories because I was worried about what happens next.

Next year-I’m buying a house, losing weight and finding a dentist that deals with victims of trauma well (I had a horrible dentist as a child that would laugh at me and just be horrific. She made fun of my teeth and I just can’t go into it), and I’m entering my MFA program in less than a week. I need to slow down and pat myself on the back more and not think of what I didn’t do less.