I’ve discussed topics similar to this before in blog posts, but something a friend said to me recently brought it to mind once again. \u00a0I could never have imagined as a child that I’d spend my life as I do. \u00a0I loved writing stories as a young girl in grade school and loved speech class in high school too. \u00a0For some unknown reason, standing in front of my classmates and talking didn’t scare me. \u00a0I felt exhilarated. \u00a0But I didn’t have any notion then that both loves would play such a big role in my life as an adult.<\/p>\n
True, I wandered around a lot before getting here. \u00a0I had many false starts, you might say. \u00a0I tried elementary teaching. \u00a0Tried to make a marriage work. \u00a0And I went to graduate school, none of which had been on my radar screen when I was young. \u00a0Alcoholism, codependency and drug addiction hadn’t registered there either.<\/p>\n
However, I see now, ever so clearly, that each activity was leading up to the path I’m on now, a path that allows me to connect with tens of thousands of people every year. \u00a0If I stop and consider all the people I have connected with through my books over the years, I “have met” considerably more than 5 million people and there are more to come. \u00a0I’m truly amazed by the truth of this. \u00a0No person could have convinced me when I was young, or even when I came into the recovery rooms in 1974 that my life was going to unfold as it has.<\/p>\n
I think the key has been my willingness to grow into that which called to me<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0Had I had an easy experience getting to know God, I wouldn’t have been compelled to journal so much. \u00a0I wrote about that in the last post. \u00a0But my search to have what others had was the action that opened the door “making the rest history,” as is so commonly said. \u00a0I desperately wanted what others had, but it eluded me. \u00a0God answered but not in the way I had expected.<\/p>\n So here I am today. \u00a0Age 73, loving life, loving the work I do, eagerly waking every day to see what God has in store and being willing, each moment, to carry to my readers whatever His message is. \u00a0The icing on the cake is that I have had a second chance at marriage and this one complements my life in every way. \u00a0I’m convinced that when we are willing to do our part, God meets us head-on. \u00a0I don’t intend to ever quit doing my part. \u00a0How about you?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve discussed topics similar to this before in blog posts, but something a friend said to me recently brought it to mind once again. \u00a0I could never have imagined as a child that I’d spend my life as I do. \u00a0I loved writing stories as a young girl in grade school and loved speech class […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections-in-the-mirror-you-and-yourself","category-your-experience-strength-and-hope"],"yoast_head":"\n