When I was a little kid I was afraid of our basement. I hated going down there. Not because it was dark, it wasn’t, or scary, it wasn’t that either. I just hated it. I still am not a huge fan of basements, but not like when I was a kid. The problem was that our laundry and back-up freezer was downstairs. That meant I had to go down there quite often.
I was raised by a God-fearing woman and she gave me a scripture to memorize and I would chant it every time I had to go down those stairs. I would race down saying over and over, “for God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind.” Believe what you want, but that scripture got me through.
As I’ve gotten older I haven’t needed to chant it during times when I get afraid, but it is always in the back of my mind. So when we decided to go for this and start releasing short contemporary romances I might have said it a time or twenty. Yet it was a quote I found years ago that might have pushed me to press the button just a little bit more.
See I have this card sitting on my dresser so I can see it every day as a reminder to keep pushing for my dreams and my goals. This card reminds me that fear is a killer and will keep you trapped where you don’t want to be. It says.
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”
— George Addair
I’m sure you guys have heard it before and if you haven’t then I’m glad to share it with you.
While I still know that God has not given me the spirit of fear, this quote tells me to step into the future He does have for me.
Not that any of that made it easy to press publish when we finished the first two books and had them uploaded. I think in the first newsletter I sent I said I was both a three-year-old jumping on the bed excited and giving your first speech to ten thousand people nervous. I wanted to cry and throw up all at the same time. Yet looking back at the fun we have had, the support, the ups and the downs (believe me there have been plenty of these) I would press that button all over again because this is the other side. This is where the magic happens.
Have we reached where we want to be? Absolutely not. We are only a few months in, but I wouldn’t trade where we are or what we’ve learned. And what we continue to learn.
It isn’t easy. Believe it isn’t, but that’s what makes it great when I look on Amazon, the newsletter list, or socials and see what people are sharing. It tells me we did the right thing.
So you might ask yourself why I started this journey with the two posts that I did. Simple. Mindset is the biggest part of this journey. There are going to be times when you question what you are doing, and if the timing is or was right. You are going to second, and third-guess yourself. You will think you should have waited or not taken the chance at all. Especially in the beginning when the only people reading your work are your friends and that one girl that talked about in high school (I know you’re here Wendy. I see you in the back). But it is your mind and your heart that will carry you through. That and those friends who are reading. They will make you not want to stop (Thanks for that Deidre, Esther, and Barrett).
The mind is the base for starting out. Get that right and the rest will not so much fall into place, but it will be easier to handle. It will make all of it that much sweeter. And when you feel like throwing your computer through a window (me last Sunday), it will keep you writing. At the very least that is what works for me and I hope it works for you.
Join me on the other side, and tell fear you have a spirit of love, power, and most importantly a strong mind. Let’s do this.
PS. There are so many other people that I should have added other than the three I mentioned, but that would take a whole other post. Just know if you are reading this and you didn’t see your name it had nothing to do with my lack of gratitude. I appreciate you all equally and you have a special place in my heart.