It’s launch weekend! It’s the weekend I deliver the baby I have been carrying for more than nine months – the book baby “Stronger Resilience” that is.
There is a verse in scriptures that states “in the fullness of time,” to mean that when the exact time comes for something to happen – it will. Every pregnant woman understands what it means to have contractions, fake and real, and then the urges come bigger and stronger, and you know IT’S TIME to deliver. This describes a lot of what I’ve felt over the last several weeks, as we have ramped up to get this book to press, and release it to the world. I am not afraid of work. I work hard, and I play hard. After many late nights, dealing with a lot of ‘no’s,’ good days, bad days today, the final product came to pass.
I am so deeply thankful to a publisher who believed in the dream, the concept and was there every step of the way. There were days I questioned whether I was really on track, I questioned my own personal worth and if God really wanted me to do this. The emotions ran high and low. This is nothing new to me when working on projects. When we worked on the live musical recording, there were so many things to put in place, and like then, I know there is no way it this would have come off with me working alone.
My husband, my number one cheerleader, believed this was something I could accomplish. He really believes I am capable of doing a lot. My children saw me locked in my office from the time I started my 9-5 till many times after midnight. However, I knew that I had been carrying this dream to bring people together to put their experiences on paper on how they became stronger. How would I find those people who were willing to do that though? There was one person, then many “I’ll get back to you” responses (many never did), but I had to press through.
I had to press through for two reasons: (1) I had a contract and (2) because I had a contract. No really, secondly because I had a commitment to myself. I had to follow through because I am not a quitter.
The support of my family seeing me duck in my office for hours after work, on the phone, a lot of planning, planning, but none of it was in vain. I read in the War of Art by Steven Pressfield:
“Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that the enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That’s why we feel so much resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there’d be no resistance.”
You have to remember that anything worth working towards will have some sort of resistance – not always but sometimes. The question is, will you press through? Will you keep your commitment to yourself, to God. The more certain you are that something is worth doing, the more resistance. Let me know if you agree with that or have experienced that @PatRussellOnline on Facebook (or @patrussellsings on Instagram). When you reach that goal as we did today, there is a feeling of accomplishment. It is the best feeling.
Nicole O. Salmon, the Purpose Coach shares this critical thought in her Planning Seminar (which is coming up, check her out @NicoleOSalmon) that to reach the goals and live out the purpose and dreams God has placed in us, we have to plan. You have to put your plans on paper in detail – this includes the months where you may not be at your optimum. Some people are challenged in the winter months, due to the dark and cold and it may affect your ability to produce so don’t plan huge events during those months. She encourages one to take note of this when planning. You have to plan.
My book “Stronger Resilience“ was released today, and of course you know with such a title, it was a journey. There were so many lessons learned during this journey that I could actually write another book on those experiences alone. I will, however, take the time to ensure I put those lessons into living intentionally, and of course into future blogs.
Until next time,
Patricia Russell
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