Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Week 28-Lesson 28: Don't Stop Believing

Reviewing where you have come from helps you see again where you are going. I've been writing lessons for 28 straight weeks! Last year I wrote 365 lessons, one for every single day in 2010! And last year on this day I celebrated two things: My 200th post for the year and a book deal! It's helpful to have 365 posts to remind myself of how far I've come and how much there is to be thankful for. I can't believe it was a year ago today that I found out my book would be published. Time flies! Here's my 200th post for 2010. It's a repeat, but it's a good lesson to remember when you feel like giving up or you're starting to lose belief in things:

Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world. She took the midnight train going anywhere....Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling........Journey

I couldn't help but quote Journey here. 200 days of blogging; it's been a journey for sure! I feel like each step in both this blog and book process were so worth it. It truly was and IS a labor of love. I never stopped believing. I believed right through all the people who told me "It's impossible" or "Very few people get book deals" or "That's a pipe dream" or "You'll probably get rejected" or "Yeah, right, sure you are going to write a book, everyone says that!"

If you are afraid of being rejected or failing, you'll never do ANYTHING. If you fall down, get up. If you fall down again, keep getting up. Fall down and get up 1000 times if you have to. Did I tell you that my book was rejected by several publishing houses? Did I let that get me down? Heck no! If anything, it gave me fuel to improve and keep going.

Wasn't it Walt Disney who went bankrupt a number of times before his dream of Disneyland became a reality? Even if it would have been wise to give up, he couldn't. He believed in what he was doing too much.

Believing in what you are doing takes amazing strength. You have to cut through all the naysayers. You have to surround yourself with people who are positive and who cheer you on. Keep those people close to you. The people who say, "Keep going, you can do it, YOU ARE GREAT!" are the people you need around you at all times. Oddly enough, these people may not be your closest friends or family members in the beginning. They may be complete strangers. People you've never even seen before. You have no idea why they are cheering for YOU, someone who they don't even know.

I honestly believe we are all connected. Not just believe, I KNOW. Recently on my Lessons from the Monk I Married Facebook fan page, I wrote, "You can't afford a negative thought. Your life is worth too much." Your life is so important. YOU are so important. What you do affects everyone. We don't live on tiny islands in our houses closed off from the rest of the world with our families. Everything we say and do affects everything and everyone around us. If you are distributing anger or other negative emotions around all the time, then you will tune in to more of the same and you are not doing any favors for anyone. In fact, you are polluting the world around you with this negativity.

Being negative is a choice. Harboring negative thoughts is your habit. Negative things don't just happen to you, you draw them to you with your thoughts. Watch your thoughts.

Being positive is also a choice. Harboring positive thoughts is also a habit. Positive things don't just happen to you, you draw them to you with your thoughts. Watch your thoughts.

How you view your life depends on your thoughts. Negativity feeds on more negativity. It's a vicious cycle. All addictions are vicious cycles. To break them you have to have tremendous strength. You have to BELIEVE anything is possible.

What are the messages you tell yourself daily? What do you believe about yourself?

I believed that I could succeed and that my book, Lessons from the Monk I Married, would become a successful book. I just got news today that, yes, IT WILL HAPPEN. My agent negotiated a very nice book deal for me.

Many of you who have followed along on my blog here let me know that you never doubted it. You told me it was just a matter of time. You are the people I want near me. I'm so glad you've been walking along here with me, it's made a TREMENDOUS difference and I seriously don't think I could have done it without you. Your positivity has added to my positivity. What a tremendous force that is when we all pool it together. Just think of all the amazing things we can do! Don't stop believing, there are so many great things in store for YOU!

18 comments:

  1. Thank you for the inspiration!
    'Watch your thought' is an important message to remember when one slips into negativity.

    sema

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  2. Aw, Katherine! You are such a lovely lady. I wish you all the very best with your book xxx

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  3. Hi Sema-It certainly is! I used to be quite the opposite with my thinking and--no surprise here-- I was unhappy with my my life. I can truly say from experience that thought precedes all things. It all manifests from what you think. I changed my thoughts and my life changed drastically. This is the truth I experienced! Namaste to you Sema!

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  4. Writer Unleashed-Thanks! You are pretty lovely yourself ^_^!!!!!! Thanks for your kind words!

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  5. 2012 is coming up soon, and your book will be on the shelves. Wow! That is exciting.

    Keep believing in yourself. And believe in others you care about when they pursue their dreams.

    I was one of the few people in our family who supported my brother changing careers many years ago (from financial analyst to medical doctor) when he was about 34 years old. He went back to college for about two years to take science courses and then entered medical school at the age of about 36 (he began his career as a doctor at about the age of 45 after his residency, internship, and fellowship).

    I was one of the few people who supported my cousin many years ago when he took a year off from college to take a break and sell real estate; like what's the rush, everyone -- he will be 21 years old instead of 20 years old when he graduates from college (he finished high school at age 16).

    People are so impatient. Hey, that is a lesson for you to write about if you have not done so already: BE PATIENT.

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  6. Hi Mike-Your family is so lucky to have a supportive person like you! Where would we all be without support? Yes, I have written about patience and the fact that it isn't my strong suit, but I'm working on it! Lesson 49 from my 365 Lessons was: Good Things Come To Those Who Wait....had to re-read that one. I think I'm due for another lesson on patience! So glad to see you here!

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  7. Hi there. I think I may have to follow your blog - it's so relevant to where I am in my life right now: trying to focus on the positive and put away the negative. I'm reading your posts in backwards order, so first I read the 7/19 post where you said "Being negative is a choice. Harboring negative thoughts is your habit. Negative things don't just happen to you, you draw them to you with your thoughts. Watch your thoughts." Then I read your 7/12 blog about choices in your life where you said "I spent a great deal of my past angry and wanting to put the blame on others for my "lot" in life. Now I can clearly see that it's my choice."

    I am most definitely stuck in the past, working daily and also through therapy to let go of childhood trauma. That trauma comes back full force any time I am told to keep positive and/or have hope - I respond with bitter inner thoughts. It is my experience that negative things do just happen to you, regardless of your outlook on life or preparations to the contrary. So I have to ask you, how have you dealt with being angry with your past and moved on to being positive? I'm 38, in therapy, and yet I'm very much at a loss about how to get over my childhood.

    I'm very curious about how you personally reconcile your belief (about drawing negative things towards yourself) with your personal life experiences where you had no control. Of course I'm assuming that being angry about your past was at least partially tied into childhood experiences.

    Oh! Much luck and congrats on your upcoming book! :)

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  8. Hello Mysie-Thanks so much for reading my blog and commenting. It's not an easy thing and it took me a very, very long time to decide to be the person I wanted to be. I also didn't like it when people told me to be positive or to look on the bright side. I think I just got tired of being in a miserable state and finally decided to take responsibility for my own life and not let others determine who I am. I am who I want to be. Everything here on this blog is 100% me and I've worked on myself quite a bit. Meditation was a very big life changer for me and I have many posts on that here. I guess it would be more appropriate to say that we can't control what happens in life (good or bad), but we can choose how we want to respond to whatever happens. If you look at my past post you'll find where I wrote about a car accident I had recently. I chose to see it as a blessing and learned quite a bit from that experience. Each one of us has a choice on how we choose to respond to situations in life and that choice starts to map the road for other choices and other life situations. That is my experience. Many blessings to you and thank you for the congrats.

    Katherine

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  9. Katherine, I know I haven't commented in a while but I had to today-- I really, really needed this entry. Seeing it resurface on your blog couldn't have come at a better time. I'm dealing with some minor hardships and discouraging setbacks in my life right now, but I have to remember to believe that it'll get better and that I have the power to deal with it all correctly... so thank you, I suppose, for bringing back this "classic LFTMIM" entry, haha :)

    I can't wait for the book to come out also. Tell Yoon "anyonghaseyo" for me! :P (I have no idea how to romanize Korean, so please forgive me)

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  10. Hi Kate-So happy to see your lovely face here! Yes, maybe I'll bring back some of the "classics" cause I need them too...he, he! Keep believing Kate...it will all unfold in due time. Lots of love to You! and I think you romanized the Korean perfectly! I'll tell Yoon hi from you!

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  11. Hi Katherine.....your post today was such an inspirational one. It is a message we all can take with us on this life's journey.

    xo

    Jo

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  12. I am so unbelievably excited for you! What a great reminder to persevere. And I cannot agree with you more: we are all connected!
    Can't wait to read the book.

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  13. Hi Susan! How are you? Thanks so much for the comment!!!

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  14. I just re-read your Lesson 49. I see I had commented on it before, so that is why I say that I "re-read" it. Still a timely post. I have a lot of projects going in my house (I do some of them, and I hire companies contractors for others), and sometimes it is overwhelming. So I do have to give myself some time to relax, as you suggest in Lesson 49. Between the plumbing and electrical work (done by others); dry rot repair, repair of the siding on the house, and power washing (done by me); and installation of new garage door opener and new garbage disposer (done by me with help by my friend); and much more I won't bore you with, I do indeed need that time to relax.

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  15. Hi Mike-Lesson 49 was a good one...I don't often remember all the lessons I wrote over the course of a year and it actually helps me to re-read them. It seems like you have projects on all burners...good to take time out and relax too. Glad you are doing that! All the best to you!

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  16. What a beautiful post! Thank you! You are such an inspiration. I love reading your blog! Can't wait to read your book!!

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  17. Hi Linda...thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!

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