Thoughts

I normally send these out in my newsletter, but I’m going to try to also share them here. 🙂

This past summer, I got a new agent. I’ve been working on a book that’s very close to my heart and because my goal is to sell this book traditionally, I wanted to find someone who was as passionate about it as I am. And I did. However, now that I landed my dream agent, I needed to actually deliver this book. And I haven’t. June, July, August, September went by . . . no book. October went by. No book. When November came around, my anxiety became crippling. The doubt set in. “I’m never going to finish this.” “She’s going to drop me.” “This book sucks. Why did I ever think it was a good idea to write this?” “I can’t do this story justice.” 

Well, November came and went, as did December, and now January is almost gone. Still no book. 

Do you feel second-hand stressed? LOL

I hope not, because I no longer feel the stress at all. I’m being completely honest and I’m going to tell you why.

As you know, I’ve been working on myself for a while now. This takes constant (CONSTANT) practice. Every single day when I have a negative thought, I turn it into a positive one. I do this repeatedly. So, with the book thing, this is what I do . . . 

Me: ugh I suck, I can’t write this book

Also me: ONLY YOU CAN WRITE THIS BOOK. Only you can tell this story. It’ll be great and people will love it. 

I do this every day. This is on top of starting my day with a few things I’m grateful for. This is on top of also listing things I’m grateful for throughout the day. This is on top of reminding myself how fortunate I am. It works. 

If those things were to fail (which, they haven’t) I guess I can always look back and say, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, and January have gone by and I haven’t turned in this book, but I’m still here. I still exist, and thankfully, I’m still able to pay my bills. 

All this to say, you are not defined by ONE thing. If you were stripped of everything you have – your house, car, clothes, etc. you would still be YOU. And because you are YOU, you’d have the ability to rebuild. We can’t replace loved ones, we can only recount memories of times we shared with them. We can’t replace moments, but we can create new ones. But you? You’re irreplaceable, and no book, no job, *nothing* can replace you. 

I’m grateful we’re walking this earth at the same time. 

Xo,

Claire