C.E. Lemieux Jr.'s Blog, page 2
December 4, 2013
If at first you don’t succeed….
You could finish that statement easily enough, couldn’t you? I’m sure most people are familiar with Vince Lombardi’s quote, “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” And Thomas Edison’s quote, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” is often cited as a positive spin on the scrapes and bruises which come along as the result of the struggle for success.
The truth is success doesn’t often come easy and quite often not on the first attempt. With perhaps a few rare exceptions, it would seem ridiculous for an author to expect to complete a book on the first draft. It goes through revisions, editing, and sometimes a complete rewrite. Hours and hours of design and redesign were poured out on the world’s significant engineering marvels. Inventors like Edison tried and tried again before seeing their visions come to fruition. Most paintings begin from a sketch or at least an idea, before they find their true form. Diamonds don’t come out of the ground with those perfect cuts and polish.
Yet, we often berate ourselves over failure or hang our heads at dismal results. We expect to sparkle on the first try. Why is it we are so hard on ourselves when failures and mistakes just help us to clarify the pathway? Often when we stumble, it’s because there is another way.
When you meet with an obstacle do you see only the closed door, or do you look around for the one which has opened? Is it really a dead end or just a fork in the road? No doubt, there are times we need to recognize when we are simply beating our heads against the wall, but even under those circumstances there may be another option. Perhaps we need to step back and look at the big picture. Even that proverbial wall we are bouncing against might be just what we need to see another way around the problems blocking our success.
The real question is whether we are willing to learn from those mistakes. Are we open to what they reveal about our plans? Can we use them to improve or change our navigational course? Are we simply going to dwell on them or make use of them?
As with most of these blog posts, they originate with me. Often the ideas come from things with which I’ve struggled. As I seek to encourage myself, I offer encouragement to you as well. Take heed of the signs along the path. Look for how your mistakes can help you achieve success. Open your eyes to the big picture to see if you really know what it is you are trying to accomplish and if that goal is the right goal for you.
Just in case you still need help, here are a few more inspiring quotes about persistence toward success:
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success” – Dale Carnegie
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” – Vince Lombardi
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” – Booker T. Washington
“I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs, but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.” – George S. Patton
“Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill
November 9, 2013
Negative Nelly*
Recently, I was giving my son a hard time about his pessimism. It’s really easy to see why he’d been having a hard time with it. Just a few
short weeks into baseball season, and as he was really getting excited about playing the game again, he suffered a broken leg on a slide into third base. He had made new friends on the team and was enjoying not just the game, but also the camaraderie of the relationships he was developing. All that appeared to be coming to an end with the broken leg.
As he went through the healing process, little changes and feelings he hadn’t experienced before seemed to make him think things were going worse instead of getting better. The darkness in the foot and the continued swelling caused him to question if it was healing, even though the doctor said it was going well. After one particular visit to the doctor, when he’d been worried the leg wasn’t healing correctly, I texted him, calling him Negative Nelly repeatedly to rouse him from his pessimism.
He did make it to some of the baseball games in an effort to let the team know he was still supporting them and those moments seemed to lift his spirits. Then the prognosis of extended time before he would be able to get back to normal pulled him back down. Stuck in his room keeping the leg up, he kind of became a recluse and didn’t interact with the family much
This year we didn’t have enough players for a football team, an incredibly depressing thought for a team which had played for the state championship the previous year. We cooperated with a neighboring town, and he had hopes of playing with them. Even though he knew he wouldn’t start the season, he participated in practices and team get-togethers, again to show support for the team, and I think to make himself feel better about things.
On his last visit to the doctor, he was under the impression he would be able to play in just a few weeks. But after meeting with the physical therapist, his hopes were dashed again as he found out how long the actual recovery would take.
All of these things seemed to pile up, and he had taken on a bit of a negative attitude about things. He seemed to focus on the bad news rather than the good. Again, an easy pit to fall into when you are young and things don’t seem to be going your way.
But he’s not alone. It’s often easy to let life’s little obstacles rob us of our positive outlook. As adults, sometimes we fall into the spin cycle of negativity and can’t seem to get out. Financial hardships, health issues, the daily grind… they all seem to suck the life and energy out of us.
However, there are those among us who somehow are able to skip over the negativity and always focus on the positive. They are amazing people, and I often wonder if they really never get down or they just find a way to pull out of it before anyone notices. Either way, it is an admirable trait, to be able to face the world looking through those rose colored glasses and stay perpetually on the upside of things. However, many of us have to work a little harder to stay on the up and up.
One way to keep things in focus is to remember that as bad as things seem, “this too shall pass.” Even though my son’s leg was broken, it was healing, and in the long run he will be better for the experience. He will learn from it and he will see that he can push through it.
Another way to overcome those moments of negativity is to count your blessings. A little over a year ago, my son… along with the rest of his family…had lost his home. We faced something we had never expected. It is a suddenly overwhelming experience to be without all with which you are familiar. But with a great amount of support, we weathered it and we were brought to a place where we could see what was really important in our lives. Even with the loss, we had some wonderful things for which we could be thankful.
Perhaps, our negativity is the result of a bad decision or a mistake. If so, we need to recognize we all make mistakes and avoid continued punishment. We must make the decision to learn from the mistake and move on. We can’t allow it to continue to eat away at our confidence or energy levels. The more time we devote to dwelling on it, the more time is lost for moving to a more positive frame of mind.
When faced with the negative, we can stop our thought patterns and redirect our focus. Forcing ourselves to think about other things, occupying our minds with other thoughts can help us to overcome that pulling of our souls into the darkness. Surrounding ourselves with positive thinkers can help as well.
Whatever it takes, we can pull it off. We can avoid being a Negative Nelly or a Pessimistic Paul by looking for what’s right or good with our lives. We can look forward to the time when we heal and become stronger than we were because of the experience.
*This article is not meant to offend Nelly. By the way – if you Google Negative Nelly, you’ll find quite a debate as to whether the correct phrase is Negative Nelly or Negative Nancy. Of course, there is the more modern Debbie Downer or the Prophet of Doom. However, I suppose we should all be careful of our usage these days; Nelly, Nancy, Paul, and Debbie might take offense and then we’d have something else to worry about.
November 4, 2013
Amazon Countdown Deal
For the next few days, the Kindle Version of There’s Something About Henry is on an Amazon Countdown Deal. The novel can be downloaded for just 99 cents. The regular retail is $2.99. So if you are looking for a book to read, take advantage of the ACD and get it while it is marked down.
There’s Something About Henry is a sequel novel to Whispers in the Wind. It is currently exclusive to Amazon and will be until January.
I’d also like to take the opportunity to encourage you to leave a review for the novel. Reviews are the best way to support your favorite authors. Authors rely on the reviews of their readers to help promote their books. It is a simple fact that books with more reviews sell best. So, whether you like the novel or not, please let me know how you feel about the novel.
I’d also like to say Thank You to all of those who have purchased either the Kindle Version or the paperback of There’s Something About Henry.
October 15, 2013
The Latest
I apologize. I’ve been terrible at updating this blog in the last year. I actually did write a couple of blog articles which I will post in the future, but I’ve just struggled with getting back in the groove. The good news is the time away from the blog hasn’t been a total waste; I’ve worked on several projects.
There’s Something About Henry published in September. Both the Kindle version and the paperback are available exclusively on Amazon until the end of the year. I hope you find it interesting. Although I tried to write it as a standalone novel, it follows the ending of Whispers in the Wind, telling the story of Henry Newburn.
I have finished two drafts of Some Kind of Life. The cover is ready and a proof has been ordered. I enjoyed the characters in this book so much. Sophie is a bit of a geek, transplanted to Oklahoma by her dad’s new job. She has a very sterile view of life and looks to science for answers to her most important questions. Cole is a happy-go-lucky guy, not terribly popular, but able to use his humor to get him out of most of his social difficulties. There is a considerable amount of conversation and both Sophie and Cole have fun, lively personalities.
The Ladder Climber is most likely to be the next novel published and it is my sincere hope to have that ready before the end of the year. So far, the pre-published reviews of The Ladder Climber are very good. Nick Gordon is a district manager with the world’s largest retailer. He is at the top of his game and he’s reaching for the next rung on the corporate ladder. Then his world gets thrown off kilter and he finds himself spinning out of control. Caught in a web between three very different women, Nick is on a search for a way to get his life back on track. The Ladder Climber is set in Colorado.
The Blemished Rose is in proof stage and needs some more editing. My plan is for this novel to be published after the first of the year. The Blemished Rose is a darker story which gets down and dirty on the streets of Houston.
The Suicide Squeeze is moving along nicely. This story has a bit of a baseball influence, thus the title. I’m having a great deal of fun with these characters as well. Josh and Sam are both lively and it’s been a joy weaving baseball into the storyline.
You know, conflict is the driving force behind a story. I’ve tried to experiment with different types of conflict. Both Some Kind of Life and The Suicide Squeeze use conflict in unique ways and still keep the emotional impact of the overall story.
In addition to these stories, there are at least four more manuscripts in varying stages of progress. So, as you can see, even though I may not be doing a terrific job of keeping up with the monthly blog articles, I have been busy.
As always, thanks for following along. I appreciate your continued support. If you haven’t picked up a copy of There’s Something About Henry, it is available on Amazon and Kindle. If you have read There’s Something About Henry, please consider leaving your comments as a review. Whether you liked the book or not, I really want to hear from you.
May 20, 2013
Momma Gump Was Right
“Life is like a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
We all know the quote. If you’re like me you’ve probably watched Forrest Gump a thousand times. In truth there are several quotes which ring with wisdom inside the simple mind of Forrest Gump. However, I believe his momma’s quote is about as spot on as they come.
Life is a blend of bittersweet. I recently watched my second oldest son graduate. As I looked out on those kids, there were so many who had endured or been touched by hardship and tragedy in their young lives. There they were, standing upon the threshold of adulthood, the time when life traditionally starts throwing things at us. Many had already experienced what one might consider as their share, but on that day they were filled with smiles, childhood memories, and dreams.
Life is a blend of bittersweet; an experience of triumph and tragedy mixed together creating its own unique taste. A selection of morsels from which we all partake, it’s made up of varied ingredients; a splash of tear drop, a dash of longing, sprinkles of happiness, and a dusting of pure sweet memories sifted into this bowl of existence; kneaded by the fingers of time; rolled out beneath the weight of loss; stamped into the shapes of broken hearts and angel wings. The taste is without compare; deeper than the loss of innocence, more enticing than the pull of melancholy, as sweet as the aroma of love.
Whether heartache or happiness, emotion plays an important role in this journey. This is why I write what I write. I find value in the emotion of words, in the ability of an author to flick that switch with just a phrase, a context, or even a well-timed word. The right word can trigger a feeling or a memory; memories which serve as the doorway to reconnect with those moments of happiness, contentment, and love.
Life is a blend of bittersweet; we find ourselves celebrating the good times and struggling over the bad times. We try to make sense of it and understand the reasons things go the way they go. In the midst of tragedy, silver-linings are hidden in the misty fog of sorrow and heartache. When life is going our way it can seem like rainbows and candy sprinkles, but when life throws a curve and the clouds roll in, the color seems to disappear. We find the air sucked from our lungs and the world closing in around us, sending us to seek comfort in faith, prayer, and in others.
Most of our lives, most of the time spent on this earth, falls somewhere between the teardrops and the laughter. But just as the majesty of the mountains, the enormity of the canyons, and the might of the oceans cause the bland road-travel to disappear among our vacation recollections, so the hills and valleys of life seem to become the highlights of our existence; the granite core to our nostalgias.
I read a story once in an Ann Landers column; it was called The Station by Robert J. Hastings. In fact, I’ve kept a copy around for a long time to reference from time to time. It speaks of life and happiness as a journey and not as a destination. It serves as a reminder that the little day to day interactions are just as important as those monumental moments. I’ve seen this in the example of my children. When we get lost in reminiscence, I’m often amazed at the little things which mean so much to them; things which had slid by me almost without notice had become part of their favorite memories.
Life is a blend of bittersweet. It is a box of chocolates. We take the good with the bad. We never know what we will get. But we have the opportunity to fill in the middle with our own pieces of nuts, filling, or fruit which can add flare or flavor in any way we desire. We can claim our own successes and recognize those things which we choose to make important. We can allow the gentle rub of soul against soul to leave our touch upon others and leave our mark behind. We can take the time to consider what others have left behind for us. How have they touched us? How did their presence make us just slightly different than the person we may have been without them?
Life is a blend of bittersweet. Taste it for what it is. Discover that which moves you and treasure the flavors you savor. Taste that sweetness and allow the bitter aftertaste to remind you how fleeting that taste can be; fleeting enough to be worthy of our recognition and our wonderment.
February 24, 2013
I’m Back!
So, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to post here. Life has been pretty consuming for the last few months. So many trips out of town to look at prospective homes; looking at floor plans and sliding things around; waiting and waiting until it shows up and gets put together; so glad all that is almost completely behind us. I don’t think it ended up like either of us had originally planned, but it turned out nice and it will be home. I’ll miss my two-story house and my porch. I’ll be wistful of the hominess of our old place, but I’ll enjoy more space, a larger kitchen, and not waiting on the bathroom. And I have an office (though no desk as of yet). The recent snow has made the mud which is our yard interesting.
As for writing, well I’ve squeezed in a little here and there. There’s Something
About Henry is almost done. I still have some edits and the cover to finish up. Amazingly, I am finishing that book after just about eight months of work, while I still have two novels which have been years in the making that are not quite done. I think the inspiration behind the story drove me to finish it quicker. I had hoped to re-release Whispers in the Wind with a new cover at the same time and I still hold out hope for that to happen. I had hoped to be finished up before Christmas, but that didn’t happen.
The other two novels, The Ladder Climber and The Blemished Rose, are also in proof stage and, with some editing and cover work, will be ready to release soon. All three of those novels are currently being read by readers who are giving me some kind of feedback on them. Who knows? Maybe all of them will release this year. I missed a release last year, so I may have to make up for that with a couple this year. I’ve done some work on Some Kind of Life and it is getting close to having a finished first draft. Some Kind of Life is a young adult novel. I’m really excited about Some Kind of Life because I think it will appeal to the readers who enjoyed Whispers in the Wind. It is another tale of a young girl finding her way, but is a little more contemporary than WITW. Margarita Dance is a spicy little love story which is just beginning to take shape. The Chase (which will likely get a new title as it develops) combines two of my favorite things — bittersweet stories and baseball. It is about one third of the way into its rough draft. Ashes to Ashes will be the title of the third and final Whispers in the Wind novel which will star Abby’s grandson Berk. That story will probably have a lot of what I’ve been feeling for the past few months. It is just in the planning stages. For Love and Honor is still out there hanging in a state of “when I get back to it.” There are so many stories and just so little time.
In the meantime, I’ve been reading and reading and reading some more. If you go to the website www.lemieuxbooks.com you can find my Recent Read list. There might be something there you would like.
I thank those of you who have emailed asking how things are going and maintaining an interest in what I am doing or working on. Hopefully, things will start to move in a direction where life settles down a bit and I can get some traction once again. Also, I want to offer a thank you once again for those who have been so supportive and helpful in the last few months.
Well, that’s it from me for now. Until next time, Happy Reading!
November 2, 2012
S.M. Boyce Releases “Treason”
Hey Folks! My incredibly talented and insanely active author friend, S.M. Boyce is at it again. She has just released Treason, another installment in her Grimoire Trilogy. If you’ve been following this series or are looking for a new fantasy novel series to read, check out this release. If you want to know more about S.M. Boyce you can take a look back at my interview with her here
http://lemieuxbooks.com/blog1/2012/03/04/interview-with-author-s-m-boyce/.
To celebrate the release of Treason, she is going on tour — a blog tour. You can jump on tour with her by following the link above. She’s also giving stuff away again, so jump in there and take a look. Visit the link below from November 27 thru December 31 to get a chance for her free stuff.
July 25, 2012
Thank You is Just Not Enough
The Porch Swing
This began as a Facebook post. After I decided I had too much to say for that, it morphed into a blog article and after Julie asked me to write something for the paper, it was modified a little more. First, before I go any further, I have to say this, “If your gas grill is closer than three to five feet from your home, stop reading this and go move it. You don’t want that regret hanging over your head.”
Okay, where to start? That’s what I think when I look at what is left. It is also what I think when I begin to think of all the things for which we are thankful. A nearly one hundred year old landmark is gone, as is the home where so many of our memories took place, the only place our kids know as home. We’ve kind of moved around through temporary homes and we still have some more transitions to endure. My kids lost most of their treasures and mementos. I won’t deny that it is uncomfortable and humbling to be where we are right now. Yet, I can’t help feeling we are blessed beyond measure. We are well and safe and living among really terrific people.
We are not the first to lose a home to fire or to be faced with difficulty. There are so many people out there who have it much worse than we do today. There are people who have absolutely no insurance, no families, or live in communities where they feel they are among strangers. There are those who have lost loved ones and live through terrible tragedies. There are those who are called upon to find deep wells of courage, just to get through the obstacles which face them. We have much for which we can be thankful. We are fortunate the fire didn’t smolder until we had gone to bed and that we had neighbors who came to warn us, call it in, and help try to put it out. We are fortunate we have family and friends nearby. We are so blessed to be living where we do. Though our lives have been changed and are a little crazy right now, we are blessed and we know it.
Over the past few weeks there have been so many times when I’ve felt overwhelmed by the blessings of kindness which have fallen upon us, much like the coach at the end of Facing The Giants or George Bailey at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life. You…yes…You are the greatest people on the planet. From the Deputies, Firemen, EMTs and other emergency personnel who had their hands full all day with a grass fire only to spend the evening trying to help us, to the friends and neighbors who have gone way beyond anyone’s expectations, to the prayer warriors who have come together for us from all over – “Thank you” will always seem to fall short of really explaining how much we appreciate you, but we’ll try. Each time one of You show up to offer more support, or to offer words of kindness, we are seized with emotion. On Sunday you overwhelmed us once again with your kindness.
There are so many of you, we simply can’t name all of you individually and we certainly wouldn’t want to leave anyone out. Some of you work behind the scenes, so we don’t even know all you have done, but rest assured we know you are there. Thank you for your generosity, for your kindness, your concern, your gifts, your words and deeds. Thank you for your dedication, your thoughts and your prayers. Most of all, thank you for being you – the caring, wonderful people you are. You’ve come together for so many others and I’m sure you will come together for many others in the future. That togetherness is one of the many things which seems to make living in this area so special. It may not be glamorous, but it is home.
To me our house had become a living thing; the place where my kids have grown; the place to which we moved when we were new parents; a place which has helped inspire my imagination; a place which was occupied before us by some very special people. So much history moved through those walls, both our history and Forgan’s. Though I’ve grumbled through replacing windows, walls, and the cost of heating and cooling it; that house was still special enough to serve as a setting for three of my stories. It may not have been glamorous, but just like the area in which we live, it is home.
Last week I sat on the front porch and thought of all the things I’ll miss about that house. I’ll miss stepping out on the covered porch with my kids during a thunderstorm to watch the rain roll off the roof and feel it spray against me when the wind blows. I’ll miss the way the porch swing thumped, thumped, thumped as the wind blew it into the side of the house. I’ll miss the sound of my kids running down the stairs. I’ll miss its creaks and settling noises. I’ll miss the view going into the front door which inspired the first chapter of Whispers in the Wind.
We’ll have another home and it will have its own memories and characteristics, but it won’t be that one. It won’t have the same atmosphere or the worn in feeling of an old pair of jeans or a favorite t-shirt. It will be newer and probably have fewer problems. The walls and the trim won’t be scared and scuffed by the day to day life of a growing family. No, it won’t be the same, but over time it will take on a life of its own. Its walls will hear and remember the voices of a thousand conversations. It will break in like that new pair of jeans and become just as comfortable as the old ones. The walls and paint will become smudged with growing hands; there will be pieces of our lives left upon their surfaces. It will transform from a house to a home and a capsule of our lives together.
The past three weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. We’ve spent much of the time working from morning until late in the evening sorting and sifting. We’ve received help with that from our families and friends. We’re still working on inventorying the house. It’s a long process and I encourage you to at least take some pictures of your rooms to keep in the safe deposit box so you have something to reference for later. Most of our rooms downstairs, though smoke and water damaged, are intact and that has helped, but the upstairs is a different story. Also, get a fireproof-safe for your pictures or get them put on disc and keep them in your safe deposit box. We have been able to save a lot of pictures. We had one tub of photo albums which would have burned, but it was full of water. We had to pull the pictures apart and dry them, but they were saved.
We’ve received so many clothes, that we donated the ones which weren’t the right sizes. So you helped us and we passed on some of your help to others. We are in good shape on clothing. My parents dining room and Julie’s dad’s porch were filled with tubs of clothing until we moved into the temporary home. We’ve had offers of furniture and cooking items, but right now our biggest issue is having room to storing things. Our garage is filled with things we could salvage from the house, cabinets and furniture. Many of those items may have to go due to smoke or water damage, but we have to keep them until after the insurance company finishes its numbers. We can’t really start cleaning up the sight or tearing down the structure until they are done.
We received offers of places to stay and though most of them didn’t work out because of the size of our family, we appreciate your offers more than you can know. The insurance company decided to move in a mobile home for us to live in temporarily.
Our hope is to rebuild or move in a modular home. Though we’ve started looking at home plans and visited with some builders and modular home companies, we really can’t make any decisions until we see what we can afford. Our insurance basically pays for the parts of the home which were destroyed until it meets the maximum. Again, just a suggestion, but take a look at your homeowner’s policy and see what is covered. If you can afford it, make sure you have replacement coverage and not just a dollar amount.
We’ve gone back to work and are making adjustments to our normal. So to sum it all up, friends and neighbors, we will be okay. It will be awkward, uncomfortable, or difficult for a while. We may have to adjust to a different type of home or some place smaller than we were accustomed, but we’ll be fine. We may not have a place to call our own for a while as we figure out what steps to take, but we’ll be okay. God has blessed us to live in a great community and a great area. We have each other and our families. We’ll create more memories and gather more mementos. Someday things will seem normal again, but every day we can be thankful to live in an area where people have the kinds of hearts and souls which reach out to others; the kind of people who understand that there is sincerity in our words when we say, “Thank You.” Along with our thanks, know that you are in our prayers as well. We pray that the Lord will bless you for blessing us. May His kindness and generosity rain down upon you and your families. May He quench the thirst of your dry land and watch over you as you have watched over us.
April 9, 2012
Simple Signs of Spring
Spring is rolling in upon the Panhandle. A few weeks ago we took a trip to visit my son at college. The ribbon of highway lifted and fell with the rolling hills. It was early morning and along the way I watched as the world was awakened to the morning sunlight. Fog held in the low spots; that wonderful kind of fog which just lifts above the ground and makes me feel like I'm driving just under the clouds.
Along the road the cattle moved and grazed, vapor rising into the air as they exhaled into the early morning chill. Water dripped and drooled from their mouths as they paused in their drinking from the water in standing ponds, creeks, and water tanks to offer a curious glance as we passed. A bull lifted his snout in the air to echo out his deep call into the quiet of the morning and, though I couldn't hear him from inside the car, the image of his actions offered the sound within the confines of my mind.
In the fields of brown, life had started to eek its way to the surface, dotting the earth with a shade of bright, fresh green. The spindly bare limbs of trees were growing bumps as the buds of new leaves grew toward their unfolding. Green squares of winter wheat fields contrasted against the gray squares of old stubble, the dark squares of plowed soil, and the brown squares of dormant grass like the spaces on a checkerboard. Across the prairie, heavy dew glistened and sparkled like a sprinkling of diamonds reflecting the light of the sunrise. I couldn't help but be taken in by the details of this chilly Oklahoma morning.
A few days ago, I sat waiting to pick up the kids from school. With the windows down and the light breeze blowing in, I absorbed the beautiful warmth of the sunlight and a flawless baby blue sky. The paper thin seeds of the elms floated down upon Main Street like confetti. It was the kind of day which made me wish youthful thoughts for a convertible and the blast of a good stereo, the wind whispering through the barren land where my hair once grew. Spring fever was growing and I longed for a fishing rod and some soft green grass.
Last week I went to the track meet. Aside from the races and field events, kids of varied ethnicities and cultural backgrounds ran, laughed, and played in the center of the field. Their easy interactions were warming in the current climate of political and cultural confusion. The odor of sunscreen filled the air and the absence of its use was reflected in the sunburned noses, cheeks, legs, and arms. Upon sleeping bags and blankets, young athletes read books, snacked, teased, and wrestled with each other while they waited between events. The thin wires of headphones draped down from their ears as they took in the wonder of spring and blended it with their own choices of music; faces filled with mixed sentiments of contentment, ease, confidence, apprehension, hope, and happiness.
Today, the day after Easter, the morning started with overcast skies which slowly rolled away to reveal pale blue once again. The yards are green with grass and weeds. Henbit, a weed of course, has taken over the town and small purple flowers spread like carpet unrolled upon the yards and open lots. Annoying as it may be, it is pretty in its own way.
The trees are nearly fully leaved now. The gray-brown branches which were dormant all winter are filled with green. Track meets, softball, and golf games carry the echoes of voices and laughter as people move from their inner sanctuaries to absorb the wondrous feeling of once again being outside. Sounds of mowers and weed trimmers hum or whine in the background. Sweet scents of flowers blooming and grass being cut have begun to fill the world and create their own feelings of busyness. The smells of charcoal and barbeque have replaced the winter odor of pinion burning in fireplaces.
Red dirt, chalk, and grass will once again stain pants and jerseys. The smell of popcorn and hotdogs will lift in stadiums across the country. The pop of ball into glove, the crack of ball against bat, and the growl of the umpire's voice will pierce the air. 
Cheers and boos will roar from the crowds. The taunting wink from batter to pitcher, the hand signals of the catcher, the touch of hand to cap, the windup, the release, and amazing dives in the outfield will all become familiar sights. The loudspeakers will echo and the organ will play. "God Bless America" will be sung in rough harmony during the stretch. Replays of "Field of Dreams" will make way for live games. The world has awakened from its winter!
It's Spring folks! You know what that means? Baseball is back!
March 20, 2012
How to Listen To Your Internal Compass – Guest Post with Shelli Johnson
Author Shelli Johnson
Hey folks! Today I am pleased to introduce you to another author and a great friend, Shelli Johnson. Shelli is the author of Small as a Mustard Seed. It's an amazing book because Shelli is an amazing writer. Small as a Mustard Seed focuses on the struggles of a family to deal with the stresses left behind by war. Shelli is a descriptive writer and her characters come to life. In addition to her author duties, Shelli's blog is always a place of inspiration and encouragement (and some delicious recipes). You can visit her blog by clicking HERE. I've shared several of her posts on Facebook and Twitter. I want to thank her for stopping by and sprinkling some of her positive energy here on my blog.
How to Listen To Your Internal Compass
By Shelli Johnson
"I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am." ~Sylvia Plath
Sometimes people get lost in their own lives. There's no map and they don't know how to follow their own internal compass. They don't know which way is true north.
Maybe you're one of them. Maybe you, too, have listened to parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and/or bullies ~ just to name a few ~ tell you who you are and believed it. Maybe you shared your dream only to have some misguided person say, "Oh, you'll never be able to do that." Maybe you followed the advice of some aptitude test or, worse, some school guidance counselor who barely knew you at all.
It begs the question: Why would you think someone else knows you better than you know yourself? So now it's time to start listening to your own wants, needs, dreams, and desires. It's time to ACT on them.
Okay, you say, but I've been listening to everybody else for so long, I've pushed away and stuffed and repressed and suppressed and now my internal compass needle looks haywire, kind of like it's next to a magnet. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, you might say, I don't know what my purpose in this life is. So what, you ask, do I do now?
Well, here are a couple of suggestions that helped me:
EULOGY Write your own eulogy because it will tell you what's most important to you, what you want to be remembered for. Envision someone reading it at your funeral, where it's too late to change anything because you're in the casket. What are the most important things that you'd want people to know? What are the most important achievements that you'd want your legacy to be? Don't dash something off and look at this like a homework assignment, really take the time to think about it. When I did this exercise, it took me two days of writing, thinking, making lists, crossing stuff off, rewriting. But honestly, this was the most helpful thing for me to clarify what it was that I wanted from my life. People sometimes act as if they have an infinite amount of time to get things done. You don't. None of us do. This exercise forces you to choose the most important things. Once you know what those things are, then you can make goals and plans to start achieving them.
MISSION STATEMENT Write yourself a mission statement for your own life. It should be short enough that you can remember it. It should encapsulate your goals and vision for what you want to accomplish. Then you know in which direction you should be headed. Here's mine: I write and sell quality novels that touch people's lives.
Let me tell you this, too. Once you start figuring out your true north, where your compass is actually pointing, sometimes it's really easy to listen. Sometimes, that little voice inside you says things like hey, take this class or wow, go make friends with that person, and you smile and nod and say, "Okay!" Then you do or don't do what it says.
But other times, it's scary as heck. Sometimes, that little voice says things like quit your job or this isn't the right relationship for you or you need to move across the country/around the globe. Those are the times you may dig in your heels and holler NO or throw a whining tantrum about how you don't want to. I know, I've done it.
But know this, the only times in my life that I really got in trouble, really made some bad decisions that I later regretted, was when I chose to fly in the face of what my internal compass was telling me, when I let my head holler until I couldn't hear that little voice at all.
Take a lesson from me: Don't do that.
If you're going to do the hard work of finding out who you are and what you were put on this planet to do, then don't give up on yourself by not following through. Yes, sometimes it's scary. Here's my advice: Grab onto somebody's hand, hold your breath for a bit if you have to, and do what your internal compass tells you to do.
And finally, here's my opinion: if you do your eulogy and make your mission statement and you believe that you're doing the thing that you are meant to be doing, the thing that you were put on this planet to do, then you MUST do it, which means that you keep going no matter what gets thrown at you, which means that you don't quit. Ever.
Do you know which way is your true north?
MY BIO:
Shelli Johnson worked as a sports journalist and an editor for many years before finally following her passion and pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing. Publishers Weekly called her award-winning novel, Small as a Mustard Seed, "an intense & heartbreaking story of the fallout of war." It's available now as an ebook.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.facebook.com/shellijohnsonauthor
www.twitter.com/Shelli_Johnson
