Yesterday I finished up the draft for Embracing Grief. I have been working daily to get it done and yesterday morning, sitting in the back corner of a local Panera Bread, I finished the last chapter. I texted Rich to let him know I was done and then sat there for a minute, soaking in the moment of seeing my goal met.
I have a tendency to put off celebrating. Don’t applaud me for writing the book, wait until I finish revising and polishing it. Don’t congratulate me for finishing the book, wait until I actually get it formatted and available for sale. Don’t give me a high five for trying to sell it, wait until I actually sell a few copies. Wait until it makes back the investment. Wait until it gets enough reviews. Wait until I get a couple books under my belt. Wait, wait, wait.
But maybe today it’s okay to go ahead celebrate this stage. It was a lot of work. A lot of tears. A lot of me out there in some ways I haven’t shared before. Yes, there’s more to celebrate. And I’ll do that when it’s time.
The truth is, there’s no point along this journey that I’m done until it’s all over. There’s always another book to write, another goal to be met, another challenge to face. If I skip celebrating the successes along the way, I’m going to miss out on a lot of joy. And if writing a book about grief has taught me anything, it’s that we need to mark joy when we encounter it.
So today, if you want to applaud or congratulate or high five me, I’ll take it. And if there’s something you want to celebrate, let me know. We can high five more than one thing.
Let’s not wait this time.
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Now that I’m nearly done with the book, I’ll be looking for folks to help review it for me! If you’d like to receive a free copy of Embracing Grief in exchange for an honest review, sign up for my newsletter and I’ll have more information for you there. Thanks so much!
knitting soul 