Can I Succeed In My Pursuits?
How many times have you asked yourselves this question? Have you received the level of success that you want or are you still looking for success? May I success that succes can mean many things, and different things to different people. Below is my story about asking the question, “Can I really succeed?” and then an amazing thing happened.
I share my story with you so that you appreciate the power of asking the question and then the affect you have on others lives when you have answered this question. Please share your stories with me as well. Our stories are interesting and inspiring to others who are going through the same process.
THE AUTHOR
My story began in 2000 when I came home from a superb business seminar. I had read the book ”Read and Grow Rich” by Burke Hedges just the week before, so my mind was fully primed for a break through when I walked through the door. I stated firing questions at my husband like, “Can I really succeed in business? . . .Can we be successful? . . . Can I really have the precious desires of my heart come to fruition?”
My husband was watching a program on television when I hit him with this barage of questions, so he was not in the mood to answer me. He said, “Jude, just go away. I’m watching a program”. So that’s what I did. I went to the back porch and sat there on a step thinking about these questions. As I looked at our gorgious back yard that looked like a park, I suddenly felt tremendous gratitude for all the Lord had blessed us with for the past five years.
It was then that, in my mind’s eye, I saw my potential and the all opportunities that were there for me to grasp. It all happened in a fraction of a second, but in that moment I knew I would never be the same. Later that day, as I was just about to fall asleep, I saw in my mind the land of my potential; it’s in our minds and consists of the limitations that we place on ourselves.
What happened to me over that entire day was so inspiring that I had to write about it in my journal on the computer. I wrote the book “The Land of My Potential” from those notes. That particular book has turned into a six book series, only two are published at this time.
Unfortunately, writing and publishing books was not received well by my family. They did not see me as an authority on anything, except being a mom – not that being a mom isn’t much. They tried to get me to put down the writing and give up on the book. They feared it would not sell well and that I would be devastated if it didn’t. I did not write the book because I wanted to make money, but money would be nice. I wrote it to help people learn what I have and because I knew that I had to do it in order to fulfill my potential. If I let go of it and did not pursue that potential, I would never succeed in anything else I tried to do.
To make a long story short, writing and publishing books was a huge challege. I had to overcome many obstacles. For instance, first I had to wrestle with myself about writing the book because my family was trying to get me to give it up. Second, it was difficult to take myself seriously as an author, I was nobody special and had no credentials. Also, I wrestled with self-doubt because of all the negativity and teasing from family and friends.
COURAGE AND PERSERVERANCE
I knew I had to write the book, even if I never sold one copy. At the time, I believed it was important for me to go after what I had passion for or else I would not be successful in any other pursuits. I knew that I would not succeed in anything unless I stayed true to the commitments I made to myself. That is when I pulled myself together and never looked back at self-doubt again! To make that dream come to fruition and overcome the hurdles life threw at me, I took one step at a time every single day towards completing my goal. The book did get published because I would not give up on it!
Then my son, the one who told me I wasn’t smart enough to write a book and that I was mentally ill and self-centered, sent me an outline of a book he plans to write. My other son decided to share his poetry on the Internet and with others, which he would do before. He would not share his work with a sole except for me, and now he wants to put them into a book. Three grandchildren want to write and have done some writing also. My daughter told me she is proud of me for not giving up when everyone seemed to be against me. Now my daughter is writing a book and so she calls me for advice. My husband decided he wants to publish a dutchoven cookbook. So it looks like I made a difference in my children’s and grandchildren’s lives; all because I kept the commitments I had made to myself and saw my way through it to completion.
WAS IT ALL WORTH IT?
Absolutely! The best reward is that people tell me how much the book has helped them. A MySpace friend Carol, said no one understands her like I do. Doyle said, it was if the book was written for him even though I didn’t know him. Anne said she was able to move on after struggling with a problem for a long time. She had tried many times, but could never resolve it. After reading the book, she said she was able to get past it and move on. I get stories like these all the time. So yes, it was worth it!