Trying it on for size

I tend to be a do-er, the kind of person who's happy with a project and not content just sitting around. I've been known to 'find' things to do, especially physical work like washing windows or cleaning out a closet, just to avoid sitting.

My life has changed.

I'm a couple weeks post-op, still unable to use my right (dominant) arm for anything that requires force. I can keyboard if I keep my forearm propped up, I can read when the book is propped in a stand, I can drive a little with my right hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. But working or gardening, cooking or cleaning? Not happening, not for two more months. I've also got remnants of what can only be called anesthesia-brain, times when I zone out or find myself acting without forethought. Not the best time to make huge decisions or attempt new projects.

And yet it's the time I've been given. For a few years, I've wondered aloud and in prayer what to do with my time and my gifts once I no longer can perform or choose to perform my current job. This next two months is God's answer - try a few different things on for size, Jeanne, and see what fits.

Since my current ability to focus limits me to brief periods of concentration, I've spent the last few days pulling old short articles and stories I've written but never published. Some of them aren't worth salvaging, but a few are. So between breaks for naps and old movies, I've worked through some edits and found potential markets for three magazine length pieces. Plus, I've sent out my picture book manuscript with high hopes, sent writing samples to a couple publishers looking for freelance writers on assignment, and started to think about the revisions my novel needs.

The long and short is this - I'm using my time the best way I can: resting and healing my body, exercising my mind, and sowing seeds that may help me grow a new future.