Why I'm Doing ScriptFrenzy

I like to watch those fitness infomercials.

There's one moment in particular, in the infomerical for a product called "Insanity", that I really like. One of the successful graduates of that program speaks of how he feels after having gotten it done. I papraphrase, but basically he says, "after having done 'Insanity', I feel like I can take on any challenge."

The goal of ScriptFrenzy is to write a script of some kind, at least 100 pages, in the month of April. That might sound a bit daunting, but think about it this way... that's only 3 1/3 pages per day (and your typical script format doesn't exactly fill up each millimeter of a page). Having said that, this challenge will still require some discipline, consistency and motivation on my part.

I can do this though, and I see myself coming out on the other end feeling "like I can take on any challenge."

And don't we all want to feel this way?

I'm a bit behind at this point. I can supply any excuse I want... the vagaries of a busy schedule, competing priorities, etc.... in the end though, I know I need to do this. I have, right in front of me, a great opportunity to benchmark my levels of discipline, consistency and desire.

There are a variety of reasons I'm doing this...

• My kids. I want to show them that they too can conquer a challenge.
• Myself. This a chance to both measure and enhance how I manage myself and my time.
• My story. My screenplay should be a good one. It's entertaining... lots of action and emotion and what will be a climax that would leave audiences cheering. The story also has something to say about perserverance. The movie poster I imagine would read, "He just wanted change his life. But life fought back." Also, "there is a hero in all of us". The prospect of inspiring even one person through this story drives me forward.

Anyway, I'm not all that far behind. I have set a goal to get caught up by the end of this week. A very successful person of my acquaintance is very fond of saying "take action". Let's all take action this week and push something forward and maybe we can all feel like we can take on any challenge.

Let's get it done.

A New Freind

So I guess I've made a new friend. Maybe.

Okay, so it was months ago that I swore off those internet dating sites such as match.com, cupid.com, etc. A few weeks ago I recieved a "wink" from someone on match.com.

Now, I don't know if you're aware of how these things typically work. Statistics show that 99.999999% of the time it's men who first approach women on such sites. That's how it's been since time pretty much time began, probably since the cavemen first got involved in internet dating.

So I clicked through to her profile... not only is she as cute as you might imagine (maybe even cuter), but she seems intelligent, spirited and optimistic. Someone that, given a great deal of luck on my part, I would certainly be interested in, well... romantically... but also a person that I would love to have at least as a friend.

We had made arrangements to meet, but given the vagaries of work and child care schedules it's been something of a challenge. Basically, being a responsible adult and parent is not exactly conducive to dating or even just meeting for lunch and maybe starting out as friends.

So let's flash back to last Thursday.

She and I were supposed to meet for lunch, but she was unable as she found out at the 11th hour that she was supposed to pick up her daughter early from school. That's fine. I would strongly prefer a woman who puts her children first. Anything else is simply unacceptable in my view. She sent me a very contrite email and I responded that it was no problem... "kids are always first" as I put it.

That evening I was sorting through a batch of old emails and I found something less than pleasant. A few weeks ago I had received innumerable emails, texts and calls from a friend who was very upset about something. It was a situation that, while unpleasant, was something that she had no small part in creating yet somehow refused to take any responsibility for. I looked at the emails, cringed for a moment and quickly deleted them.

I then saw the last message I had sent to my new friend. I thought of how she made a very strong point that she worked to see the good in everyone and how she seemed resolute about staying at least "cautiously optimistic" despite the occasional disheartening experience.

And I smiled. What a wonderful counterpoint to my other friend.

So I sent her another message...

"Oh, and one last thing... there are things in this life worth waiting for and I'm guessing meeting you is one of them."

In retrospect, I hope that last message wasn't overkill, and I do hope I'm not perceived as pushing her too strongly in one direction or another. Ultimately I'm looking forward to the prospect of making the acquaintance of someone who goes at life with a strong, positive demeanor, who does the best she can for her child and certainly doesn't play the victim role. Anything else is just icing on the cake.