As soon as I typed the four words of my title, I knew my post was probably going in a different direction than most of the others in the Writer Wednesdays group.

You see, if you’re a musical theatre aficionado like I am,

the title probably brought to mind the song from the Tony-winning production of “Matilda.”

Well, it did for this theatre buff, anyway. 😀

If you’re not familiar with song and you wanna hear a catchy tune, let me oblige you: “When I Grow Up”

I challenge you not to find yourself humming this later today.

If so, drop me a comment below or shoot me a tweet via @prisoliveras to let me know.

The lyrics  offer a cute look at how kids often (mistakenly) think life will be easier when they’re adults.  ‘Cuz, you know, when you’re grown up you’ll get to do fun things like “eat sweets every day, on the way to work”, “go to bed late every night” or “spend all day just lying in the sun” and not burn ‘cause you’ll “be all grown up.”

Even better, as the song says, you’ll “be smart enough to answer all the questions that you need to know the answers to.” And you’ll be “strong enough to carry all the heavy things you have to haul around with you.” Even better, you’ll be “brave enough to fight the creatures, that you have to fight beneath the bed each night to be a grown up.”

If only life and our adult decisions were that simple.

Figuring out what we want to be when we grow up can often be pretty mind boggling. But like the wise man he was, Dr. Seuss put a positive spin on  the idea in one of the childhood books my daughters loved:

Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should be a Vet!

Here are two of my favorite, often-remembered pages:

“Want to be a ticket taker? Want to be a pizza maker?”

How about a wrestler… a writer… or a waiter?”

The rhyming and rhythmic list of jobs Dr. Seuss offers—some silly, some more practical— is a reminder to kids that they can be whatever they want to be, whatever they dream to be.

But the thing is, I think the book offers an important message for all of us no matter what age we are. Because it’s never too late try something different. To stretch our wings. To seek a path we’ve thought about, but never pursued.

Because life doesn’t have to be set in stone.

Like Matilda says at the end of “When I Grow Up” and in another song titled “Naughty“: “Just because I find myself in this story, it doesn’t mean that everything is written for me.”

I see both songs as a call to action.

A reminder that we’re never too old or too young or too little to try a new adventure.

Like one of the musical’s tag lines says: To change the world it takes a little genius.

And a little gumption, too!  😀

So, whether life has thrown you a curve and you need to re-evaluate, or if you’re trucking along just fine but wanna try adding something new in your life. It’s never too late to go for it.

What’s something you’d like to try or do “when you grow up”—I’d love to hear some of your ideas!

And don’t forget to check out what the other Writer Wednesday bloggers are sharing about “When They Grow  Up”!

Romantic Suspense author: Carol Post
Paranormal Romance author: Kay Hudson
Contemporary Romance author: Tamra Baumann
YA romance author: TL Sumner

There are numerous platitudes meant to help people push through rough times. Or to help you find the positive in what could be considered a negative situation.

Sayings like:

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Challenging times strengthen you.
Some of the best things in life are mistakes.
When God closes a door, He opens a window.
When one door closes, another opens.

Some are words of wisdom from famous people. And they become daily mantras to strengthen our character and drive.

“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” Jim Valvano
“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Lou Gehrig
“Failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it.” Hank Aaron
“Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky.” Dr. Seuss
“I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” Carl Jung

Sometimes, when a good thing comes to an end, we struggle with accepting the situation. Wanting to hold onto that something, even if the wise decision might be to release it.

So, it’s with a heavy heart that the PBOK moms have decided it’s time to close the blog. We all have different reasons, but there’s one major reason we have in common—lack of time in a busy world.

I’ll admit my first reaction to rally the troops. I’d set a 2015 goal to take a more professional attitude with my writing, making sure I dedicate a specific amount of time to writing every day. Without fail!

The blog has been an amazing way for me to combine my writing life with my mom/family life. What a blessing!

So why would I want that to end?

Well, because in 2015, my writing time needs to focus on doing whatever I can to make a strong push toward publication. I’m not getting any younger. For years I’ve let my writing time slip by the wayside in the wake of other responsibilities. And let’s be honest here, other “fun” activities.

I’ll miss stopping by the PBOK blog to see what my fellow moms have posted. I’ll miss sharing my thoughts with all of you. And I’ll definitely miss the camaraderie and friendship between us.

But my wish for all of us is that we finish 2015 able to look back over the year and find accomplishments we’re proud of, despite the changes or sacrifices we faced.

We’re all strong, wise passionate women. Change can be good. If we face it with the right mindset.

I’ll be back in two weeks for my final PBOK blog. For now, I’ll close with a question I hope you’ll feel inclined to answer:

What do you plan to accomplish in 2015? Personally or professionally?

And just in case you could use a mantra for the day, the week, the month or the year, here’s a little something one of my daughters shared with me: