What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger...

I'm sick with a cold or the flu or something. My throat is recovering from being extremely sore since Saturday afternoon. My head is in a fog, though today it does seem to be clearing off a little, but not enough that my head isn't throbbing and the coughing and sneezing has become a natural part of my behavior. My nose alternates between being clogged up to running like mad. My body aches and the cold chills keep fighting with the hot flashes of a low grade fever, I believe. UGH!

I'm sitting at almost 37K, but I have a feeling that a week from now I won't be finished with my 5th novel like I had hoped for. I had set myself a goal of starting this one on the 4th of January and finishing it by my birthday on February 4th. This cold or whatever it is is taking a toll on my writing time, so we'll see how that goes over.

Since Saturday I've written all of 1,700 words. That's not exactly the kind of count I like to see over three days times, that's for sure, but when my head is thumping with pain and my eyes can't focus on the words, there's not much I can do to reconcile that until I'm feeling better.

Maybe I've been pushing myself too hard since the beginning of the year, or maybe its the fluctuation of the weather as of late. Plus, my husband recently broke his foot, so I've been taking up slack for the things he'd normally be able to do on his own or the things around the house that he'd usually help me with that he can't now. Maybe it's all just taken a toll on me.

I'm trying to give myself downtime to get better~ to tell myself that if I miss the mark on my goal of finishing this book it won't be the end of the world. Even if it takes me a week or so longer to finish it, that's okay, so long as I get better. The sooner I get better the more I'll be able to write.

The thing that gets to me is that I have started learning to set a "standard" for myself that if I start a novel, I will finish it in the shortest time possible instead of putting it on the back burner like I have done so many times before in the past when I first started writing.

I had so many false starts in my youth with my writing. I'd start, but if things got busy I would push my writing off, telling myself that I'd finish it "someday." I didn't make it a priority. I was young and naive and I didn't set goals for myself, so I never had to push myself to accomplish anything. Even with the writing bug eating away at me day in and day out.

In the past couple of years, I've started reshaping my way of viewing myself as a writer. And remodeling my writing patterns. NaNo had a lot to do with that. Writing a novel in 30 days inspired me to keep going, keep pushing through the walls inside me that kept telling me I couldn't do it. And since then- I've finished 4 and have this 5th one I'm working on now. And that's not the end of it. I still have a LOT more stories that I need to tell, that I have to get out of me. Probably some that haven't even surfaced yet.

Now if I could just get this fog to clear....I'll come out stronger for it! LOL

I'd like to ask, if anyone would like to chat or share about it~

What gets you through illness or tough times when you have writing to do, whether you're on a self-imposed deadline or a professional one?

Are there things you do to insure you keep going regardless?

Do you give yourself a few days away from writing to feel better? Or do you keep plugging away no matter how bad you feel or busy you are?

Are there any tricks you use to keep from getting sick or home remedies you use to help you feel better sooner?

I'd love to hear about it.