Sharon Dow

Sometimes it’s hard to be totally honest. We want to show people the best about ourselves. We want to be perceived as successful all the time. I shared with friends last night that I was the child who in school always had to have my work completed first and it had to be all right, otherwise it did not meet my standards! That’s a heavy burden for a child.

Have I changed much? Probably not. But hopefully I have matured to the point where I can accept that I’m not always first and I’m not always right.

As I waited for word from the publishing company, the one that had found my book proposal online and was interested in my work, I imagined a multitude of scenarios. Yes, of course they would accept my book: they were the ones who had found it and expressed interest. Well maybe they wouldn’t like it once they saw the whole manuscript. Maybe they would tell me that I had a bestseller on my hands. Maybe they would say give up, you’re not going anywhere. Who could tell?

The email arrived: was this the end or the beginning? Let me quote again: We have completed the evaluation of your manuscript. You do have a strong concept, and there is significant potential for this to be a very good book. But unfortunately . . . They went on to suggest I have an evaluation done on the manuscript with one of their editors and then re-submit it to them for consideration.

Now what? I was disappointed for a moment but then my determination kicked in (my mother had another name for my determination: stubbornness). But I now had caught the bug. I wanted this book published. I wanted it published by this company. Once again I held on to their words of encouragement: strong concept, significant potential . . . very good book . . . I signed up for the evaluation.

Now began the remarkable journey. The editor, Susan, is one of the best in the field. Under her careful guidance, my manuscript began to come to life. I could see the changes making a difference. She was incredibly encouraging as we worked our way through.

I tackled the revision with joy. This was going to work! I just read on someone’s face book this morning that talent is spelled W O R K. If this is true, and I believe it is, then I would work.

Isn’t that true in all of life? If something is worth doing or having, it’s worth working to achieve. When things don’t work out the way we had hoped, we have a few options: we can give up and blame someone else: or we can re-evaluate, decide it’s worth it, and get going.

I chose to ‘get going’ and I’m so glad I did, because the silver lining was just around the corner! Next week I’ll bring you ‘The Silver Lining!!’