Good, Better, and Best: NaNoMo Day 1

Mosiah 4:20 - "And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy."

National Novel Writing Month kicked off yesterday, and I did a really good job on sheer content, though I'm always faced with a little frustration when I try to write humor. I just have a hard time laughing at my own jokes, I guess. Either way, though my goal was 2000 words for the day, I struck over 3000 by the end. It was great!

Seeing as how I want to make creative writing a large part of my career, I try to avoid writing on the Sabbath, both as a way to sanctify the work before I get it published and to prepare myself for when I'm actually bringing in moolah. Of course, come 11:59 last night, I was frantically slamming my keyboard into oblivion, trying to keep ahead of the time so I could reach the part of my novel that I'd outlined in my mind as I wrote the opening scene.

Well, I didn't quite reach where I wanted to, so I may lose my best vision for the scene as today goes on and the memory gets buried under others. It's not a total loss, but nonetheless a little disappointing. However, in looking at my activities for the day, I recognized I probably had the time; I'd just managed poorly.

I was productive even beyond the novel yesterday, too, of course. I played D&D with the crew, I finished the weekend's worth of homework in just about all five of my classes, I went to work, I even connected with some good friends. However, I also sat around for a couple of hours watching YouTube videos and TV. Honestly, I feel like I deserved that little indulgence, but had I focused on where I wanted to reach in my novel first, then I would have accomplished the greater thing, and wouldn't feel as frustrated with myself.

And so it goes. It's the principle so lovingly declared in the title of this post, and since I don't believe in unironic title drops, I won't drop this one. However, yesterday was a good reminder for me that if I want to accomplish the best of things, then I need to sometimes forego the lesser things, even if it is only shortly. And when the very best of the best is reaching the Celestial Kingdom, well, even the mundane is thrown into a new perspective. CK or bust!

What is your very best? Be sure to comment below!