I Think I Can!

I know it may be a bit presumptuous of me to assume that anyone would want to hear the thoughts that run through my head, but lately I have been thinking a lot.  I want to share some of those thoughts in the light of our recent success as authors.

I have been surprised by the amount of attention we have received as new #1 authors.

Actually, surprised is an extreme understatement!

Saying that I do not know how to respond to the attention is also an understatement....

To be honest, I am 34 years old, a single divorced father, and I live in my parents’ basement.   To say that this is not the life I dreamt of would be an understatement. 

What is even more surprising is that I am not ashamed to admit this in any public setting.

I know, this makes me a minority, but what matters to me is what is best for my daughter.

Several years back, I went through a divorce that fundamentally changed me in every way, shape and form, from what I had envisioned my life to be.  As a result, I had to rebuild myself in a way that made me proud of me, again.

I know, this is a sad story, no matter who tells it, and it has been told a million times before I said my piece.

But.....

If you are still here....

Now, I will tell my story.

It took me several years and many, many mistakes that would shame a whoremonger, to find my way back to me.

Long before I started writing, I tried living with friends who were no good to live with while raising a child. I tried living with family, who tried too hard to sympathize with my plight, and not hard enough to wake my ass up.  Needless to say, I was a whole lot better person than I lived.

With the help of some police officers, and an almost successful sting operation, I decided it was time to straighten up.  I had to change my living situation, rather than to live with the people who were willing to let me live my life with no thought of consequence.

I managed to land a great job.

I moved back in with my (swallowing a great deal of pride) parents.

I worked to make my daughter’s life better.

Sounds good, right?.....

Yeah, I was impressed, too!

Then I was fired.

Yep.

Fired??

Yep.   After 2 years of doing everything I was asked.

Now, the time without work left me with a whole lot more time to read than I was used to.  As a result, I finished reading everything I had in a very short amount of time.

Reading does some amazing things to the mind.  You don't only recognize the genius of what you are reading, but you change a whole lot about who you are.

Yes, you change you.

The author does not change you.  The story does not change you.

You change you.

I recognized some faults in my self-perception.  As a result of that realization, I went back to college at 32 years old.

My first class as a college freshman, the teacher asked us a few simple questions.....

"Have you ever had a dream you did not pursue?"

"Did you every start a project you did not finish?”

"Have you started writing a book and not finished it?”

I can't honestly tell you what other questions he asked that night, but I was hooked! I wasn't hooked on writing, alone.  I was also hooked on learning.

I started writing “Osric’s Wand” that next weekend.  A few months later I secured the talented Ashley Delay as my co-author.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Yes, I still live in my parents’ basement.

Yes, I am proud of that fact.

Not because I am blazing a new trail for single men everywhere.

I am proud of my life because I have done some amazing things with the life I was given.

I will never live alone because I am a diabetic.

The other reasons are my own.

I have become a #1 bestselling author (or co-author), and I have an associate’s degree (Now I am debating between a PA or a PharmD).  This is what I have done with the broken life I have been given.

The Point I am trying to make is this - if I can do it, anyone can.

What are you doing to better your broken life?

What is your dream?

Chase your dream, or find a new one.  None of the things I have accomplished were on my radar in my early years.  Don’t let a few major setbacks take the joy out of life.  There is always another sunset, another foothold, another love, another dream just around the corner.  It may be years away, but you owe it to yourself to see that day.

This is not a call to action or a publicity stunt; this is simply what ran through my head today.

I hope there is something redeeming in the words, for you as well as for me.