This Year, Don’t Start a New Chapter – Write the Whole Book

I have started more “New Chapters” in January than I can count.

Every year I get big ideas of changing my whole life.

And every January, about 3 weeks in, those ideas pack their bags and walk right out the door.

My kids tease me every year:

“Ma, you fasting or feasting this week?”

“What’s this year’s plan? You quitting by the third Sunday or the fourth?”

And they ain’t lying.

I’ve tried it all:

• Cutting out wine

• Waking before sunrise (why?!)

• Eating chicken so dry it could double as packing material

• Tai Chi walking to lose weight

• Wall pilates and chair yoga (what is that!)

That 3rd week comes and I slide right back into my old habits like I never left.

At this age, I stopped beating myself up about it.

I said,

“Girl… you survived life, bills, menopause, and the Lord’s tests. If you want a biscuit, have the biscuit.”

Amen and amen.

But then – life had jokes.

Last year, right before Christmas, I was minding my business and I saw this ad from Memowrite:

“Your life story is interesting enough to fill a book. Write a book in 3 weeks using 50 questions” 

I laughed so hard I scared the dog.

A BOOK? Me?

But then I saw it again: 

Three. Weeks.

And something in my spirit said:

“Now hold on… what if THIS is the thing you finish?”

Because it was small. Simple.

50 questions?

Shoot, I answer 50 questions a day from my grandkids alone.

So I said, “Alright, Lord. Let’s see what this is.”

The first question felt easy.

The second felt sweet.

I wrote about my childhood summers. My mama’s kitchen. My first heartbreak.

Every day I did a little more.

Some days the memories hit so deep, I had to sit still for a minute and let the tears do what they do.

And then, without even realizing it…

The third week came.

And guess who did not quit?

Not me.

Not Miss “I’ll start again Monday.”

Not Miss “Resolutions are a scam.”

I kept going.

And then that book showed up.

When that package hit my doorstep, I thought Amazon dropped off something I forgot I ordered.

But no.

It was my book. My name on the cover.

My son came over and said,

“Ma… YOU wrote all this?”

He looked proud in the way sons try to hide.

Next thing I know he’s telling everybody,

“Y’all better watch out – my mama is an author now!”

I became the talk of the whole family. 

Every cousin, every auntie, every church sister:

“Look at her! She wrote a whole BOOK!”

“Don’t play with Miss Denise – she finishing stuff now!”

In my 63 years of living, I never had a moment like that before.

Let Me Tell You Something, Honey

Your New Year’s resolution doesn’t need to be big.

You don’t need to change your whole life.

Just start with 50 questions.

That’s it.

If a grandma who can’t stick to a diet or fitness plan for more than three weeks can pull off writing a full book in under a month…

Honey, so can you.

Try Memowrite.

Let yourself surprise YOU for once.

This year, don’t start a new chapter.

Write the whole book.