How to Raise the Stakes In Your Life

Welcome to Murderer's Market, and today, our post is seeking to make it that we don't snap. For new readers, please note that this blog is composed of 9 different authors, representing different genres and writing styles. I write suspense and my books have a high body count.

Sure, I love to write about murder, but let's leave that for the world of fiction, and find ways to create a way to have a beautiful life. 

“Stake me like the wretch I am;

Awaken me and bleed me until there is no more;

Relieve my pain, my desperation,

And make me believe.”

- Tina Glasneck 

Nightmares are fodder; life’s experiences are part of the recipe to create great fiction, but more than that, they are moments needed that continue to inspire.

Passion can be a beautiful thing, but for some, when we don’t feel her gentle prodding, we get lost and are paralyzed until we received our next “fix” of inspiration, and in-between those chance moments, we are stuck with a life resembling more of that of the hamster on the wheel, instead of free, loving-life beings. What do we do then? How do we infuse our lives to make them worth living?

Simple. We raise the stakes.

1. Wake up. If you want to get off of the wheel, then you have to decide to do it. No one can make you free. How many times do you have to crash into concrete before you decide to create your own adventure? What is making you unhappy? What is fueling your self-disdain? It is time to dig deeper and figure out what you are missing, needing or even wanting and then try to figure out a way to go get it.
2. Failure. Realize that every failure is an opportunity to reassess, re-envision and restart. Learn how you can change your current situation to turn it into a better outcome, including what you can change from the inside out. I’ve learned a lot through my mistakes, not only personally, but also professionally. It is through my failures that I’ve continued to pound the keys; that I’ve continued to become the person I want to be.
3. Get to know yourself. We all have triggers, things that cause the demon hiding under the mask to rise to the forefront. Maybe I’m a little paranoid, and the voices in my head are speaking louder, and the tornado in my mind is creating chaos – a chaos I love. My inspiration comes at the strangest of moments, but when it touches the recesses of my mind, it is like being intoxicated, practically giddy with the joy of creating a new scene, a new plot or even a new recipe. As a writer, I try never to repeat my stories; to make every line fresh and every scene breathe newness. It’s taken a while for me to learn what it is that makes me create. It is through knowing myself that I am able to bleed  and infuse more of it in my writing.
4. Self-acceptance. If you don’t accept and love yourself, then you give permission to others to also not love and accept you. I am a dichotomy; there is the side you see –the person filled with joy, laughter and a golden heart, but then there is the other right beneath that only comes out in the darkest moments. The shadow receives strength from the disdain and muck. Its hollowed out ribcage rises and falls with each growing obstacle. I love every aspect of me, no matter if I am flying or falling. There is only one me and only one you.
5. Stop saying no. By setting your limits of what you can and cannot do, you’ve limited yourself and your possible experiences. Maybe you need a good martial arts class to learn that kick you’ve always dreamed about, or maybe you really should take those guitar lessons to rock out. It’s not too late. Stop just living life and instead be ALIVE.
6. GO GET IT! Now that you know what you want out of life, it is time to unshackle yourself and go get what you want out of life. Today you have a new chance to be great; today you have new opportunities to do greatness, to be kind and to exude strength; today you have the opportunity to be conscious of who you are and what you need in your life to be happy.
7. Don’t be afraid to laugh.  And when life does get you down, don’t be afraid of laughing at yourself. It helps to sometimes see the brighter side of things. My entire life has created this moment and the dynamic cocktail of Twisted Tina, and when I’m not self-analyzing, you’ll find me having a good ole’ time just being me.

If you put a light against my face, you’ll discover the real me – the me without masks; the one that intrigues you; the one that sleeps with a pen under her pillow, and is always ready for the next adventure, be it real or just in my imagination.

 _____________________

I am the author of THOU SHALL NOT, a mystery and suspense with romantic elements available in all formats at Smashwords and also available on Amazon. My goal is to provide my readers with tales filled with murder, mystery, suspense and romance, highlighting that an absolute good or evil does not exist.

"The ending was a complete shocker! I kept guessing everyone except who it actually was."4-star review from Amazon.