Tag: being overwhelmed

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About Toi Reblogs

Dear World | Daily dose of gratitude

It’s that time of year again to say thanks and be grateful. It’s always a pleasure to receive an invite to share my thoughts and feelings over at a Daily Dose of Gratitude and this year has been no different. This is a great blog to read whenever you need a little pick-me-up. Yesterday it was my turn to share again and I hope you will stop by and see what I had to say.

“*Today’s letter is written by fellow blogger and wonderful writer Toi Thomas.*

Dear World,

Sometimes life gets hard in ways that are difficult to explain. You look around to your support group, the people you have in your life like family and friends, for comfort but sometimes it’s not quite enough…”

To read more, visit: Dear World | Daily dose of gratitude.

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IWSG

#IWSG November 2014: Hang In There

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

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Oh my goodness! I do not understand how other bloggers go from one month-long challenge to another and still manage to find time to breath. I did my first month-ling challenge, Write 31 Days, and I’m still recovering. For a whole month I was barely getting by. I kept up with my regular daily posts as best I could. I posted a “What’s in a name” 31 Days post every day, dealt with a plethora of personal and medical issues, and tried to read…Notice I said “tried to read”. I hadn’t read for pleasure or written for pleasure in one whole month.

It’s the fifth day of November and I’m slowly beginning to feel like myself again. I had the day off from work yesterday and after voting, I just relaxed a bit. I read a chapter in a book I’ve been staring at for months now and then wrote a page of new story notes. After that I edited two chapters of another book I’ve been working on. The only low point to my day was late in the evening when I realized I needed to get ready for work the next day.

I guess the point of me saying all this is that, through it all, I hung in there. It wasn’t easy and I feel like I missed out on a lot, but I survived last month and plan on surviving the months to come. Sometimes being a blogger and writer can be overwhelming, but hang in there for the moments when it’s fun, entertaining, up-lifting, educational, informative, encouraging, and so much more. I’m grateful to be able to share something with this special group today. Writing this post has been an achievement for me. Sometimes the simplest things can be the hardest when life is getting you down, but if you hang in there, things will work out.

I hope you are feeling encouraged today. If not, share your woe with me. I bet I can relate and hopeful I’ll be able to offer some words of encouragement just for you.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
LG Keltner, Donna Hole, Lisa Buie-Collard, and SL Hennessy!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #133).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

Review: Insurgent

Insurgent (Divergent, book 2) by Veronica Roth

I give this book a 5.

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I thought there would be more action in this one and there was…Oh and I was right about those crazy factions and their downfall and all that. Now I can’t wait to see what’s outside, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Tris is at it again, being all sweet and moody and kick-butt all at once. I like this kid, but she has some serious issues. Four on the other hand doesn’t seem as wise and mature as the author projects him to be in the eyes of all the other characters, but I still like him too (He’s only two years older than Tris, not exactly a father figure).

So in this book we’ve figured out that all the smart people are trying take out all the selfless people and somehow everyone is just now acknowledging the sixth faction, which I was just waiting for all along. There aren’t a lot of surprises in this plot, but I like the way it is executed. The author has put ingenuity to test with the way she’s twisted her plotlines. The few surprises there are in this book, are more than enough to carry the rest of the story if anyone is having a problem there.

The whole theme of control (and mind control) in the book screams anti authority in some ways, but I also think it’s a cautionary tale about the problems with too much control. Apparently someone tried to create a perfect world that’s slowly falling apart and people are willing to kill to keep this failed idea a secret. I admit I have questions about where this story is going, but I was too wrapped up in the mental and physical battle between Tris and the Erudite to spend too much time worry about them.

If the first book was about keeping secrets and finding yourself, then this one is about revealing secrets and testing yourself (finding out if you are who you think you really are). I could say more, but there’s no point. I like this book whether it makes sense or not, and I can’t wait to read the next one.

See my review for Divergent here.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords