Change is in the air…

All day I had a sense that change was coming with the election of a new president. I could feel it. In fact, I was so overwhelmed by it that I literally crashed in my bed and took a nap … something that I hardly do these days.

Or perhaps it was a bad case of writer’s block. November is Writing a Book month. I’ve read all about how it’s possible to write an entire book in just one month.

See, I was supposed to start my second book, The Code of Dignity, on November 1st. The kids got the stomach flu and I didn’t get the start I wanted. But, truly, how do you write a book in just one month when my first book took four years? And, in all honesty, I started writing my first book in 1987 after my brother died, but I just couldn’t find the right words to say. This brings me back to the point about change comin’ …

My first book, The Code of Destiny, will be published in about two weeks and I’m sweating it. I think I’m on the verge of an ulcer from all of the anxiety. How do I really, truly convey my story so that others will understand what I’ve been through? I can’t tell you how many times I have called the publisher to cancel the entire project.

Putting myself out there has been harder than I thought it was going to be. I have an important message to tell, but what if it isn’t received well? I know there will be critics and I’m all right with that, but what if nobody reads my book or worse, nobody gets my message? The what ifs are killing me. Lately, my mantra has been: You won’t know unless you try.

I wonder if Barak Obama feels overwhelmed today after winning the election. I wonder if he is sweating it because there are some mighty big mountains that he needs to climb over the next four years.

Since things are changing, maybe it’s a good time for the nation to make a change and climb that mountain we’ve always dreamed of. That’s my advice to myself … it’s good advice, I think. Why not finish a book in a month and get my message out there? I won’t know unless I try … we all won’t know unless we try.