Sometimes one of the best things you can do as an author is to stop writing.

Hear me out – I’ve not lost the plot (literally!). It’s more that I’ve been taking stock of many aspects of my life, and to do that you have to stop.

Being an author is a huge part of my life, but it is not the only part of my life. I am a wife, a sister, a friend, even a godmother! It’s really important to me that being an author doesn’t consume the whole of my life because I want to continue giving to those around me who I love.

I won’t go into details here, it’s not my place, but my extended family experienced a bereavement recently. It’s been a sorrowful and yet celebratory time.

And it’s got me thinking. When it comes to the end of my life, what do I want to show for it? Do I want a long list of books, each of them with more reviews, more adoring praise?

No.

I want those who I loved to know that I loved them. I want them to look back on happy memories, time with me, laughter.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop writing, nothing like it! But it does mean that I’m not going to beat myself up for not cracking out a few thousands words of my WIP (work in progress) because I chose instead to be with those I loved.

So today, as I think about those family members and friends I have already loved and lost, I encourage you to take stock. What do you want people to remember you for? What are you doing now that they actually will remember you for?