I’ve always loved writing. Stringing words together to make someone feel something. In the year 2000 I decided to publish a book and I made a goal of 100 rejection letters because Dr. Seuss received 43 for his first story. I got 32 rejections for various children’s book manuscripts over the years while I raised three young kids.
Then on January 1, 2016 I decided to start my own blog. I got up three mornings a week 40 minutes before I had to bolt to drive my children to school. I stared at a blank page with no topic in mind, and I wrote something that inspired me. At the end of that year, I compiled my blog into a manuscript and published it. The Treasure You Seek was born.
The Treasure You Seek is about following your heart, believing in yourself beyond reason, embracing failure and knowing that you are enough. It includes inspirational stories about famous failures, cultural icons, world leaders and regular folks like you and me. The goal is to remind us that we have all we need to be the change we wish to see. A perfect read for graduates from elementary school through university, people starting their career, changing jobs or retiring, friends going through a medical crisis, new parents, empty nesters and anyone who wants to be inspired.
I was thrilled to see it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indigo, but I wanted to ensure the message of embracing failure, being resilient and never giving up reached as many people as possible. So I started working the phone and email to book opportunities to speak in schools and corporations. Emphasizing to others that they have a gift, that action is the X-Factor, that failure is always the step before success, and that what other people think of them is none of their business.
I’ve had nine-year-olds say they are inspired to keep trying, seventeen-year-olds say they feel so much better about post-secondary and adults say they found a new lease on life.
Anything is possible if you believe. J.K.Rowling was sitting in coffee shops with her baby writing the story in her head as she didn’t have heat in her apartment. Disney was fired for having no imagination. Lincoln and Obama lost elections. Stallone had a few dollars in the bank, watched a boxing match and wrote a script called Rocky.
The only thing we are guaranteed in life is that it will end one day. And do we want to regret the things we did or the things we didn’t do? Are we using our time, the one thing we can’t replace, wisely? Are we doing something every day that brings us joy? Are we making a difference to someone? Is the ladder we are climbing leaning up against the right wall?
I named my book after the Joseph Campbell quote, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
If you have flutters in your chest just thinking about your next step, you’re probably going in the right direction. As soon as you leave your comfort zone, you learn and grow. You fail and succeed. That’s the place to be. That’s where you will find the treasure you seek.