The opportunity that came to be, would have never come.....

Do you ever hear the tapes that play within?

"You are TOO old to..."

"You are TOO young to..."

"You are TOO sick to...."

"You are TOO scattered to.."

There are moments in my life (large moments) when I too have these tapes play.

I gave up the opportunity to try to apply to multiple colleges because my tapes played:

"I don't have enough money to pay the application fees."

"My parents are too busy paying for other things to help me."

Now, to be clear, I never heard these ideas from my parents, specifically. I only heard background conversations they had about money that I placed my own perceptions on. Perceptions that actually hurt me instead of worked for me.

Do you notice how you might not even try something because of the perceptions you may have placed on it? Be aware, sometimes these thoughts are dibilitating for you and your potentially awesome life!

How do we break these barriers?

To begin, we must first look at the task at hand, are we asking the questions and looking at the concerns we may honestly have, before we finalize our thought? Have we instead placed a wall up by what we perceive to be truth instead of looking at what may actually be true?

In November, I spent my anniversary in a cabin in Ellijay, GA with my love. I awoke one morning with a short children's story book in my head and immediately got up to write it down. After I finished I read it to my husband, to which he replied, "you may have something there, Britt." With this new confidence in mind I began to search for ways to publish it.

I asked friends who were editors, I asked friends who were authors, friends who took writing workshops, all to no avail. The majority of advice I'd received was that I "need an agent." Well, how? How do I get an agent? That answer did not come easily.

It seemed as if publishing a small children's book was unattainable.

Had I stopped searching for answers and instead listened to the tapes that played:

"I can't find an agent."

"I need an agent, I'm not good enough for that."

"This is a PIPE DREAM."

"What am I thinking??"

The opportunity that came to be, would have never come.

It was a rainy afternoon and I made my way to Charleston for a Women's Conference where I would have the pleasure to teach Laughter Yoga to a group of entreprenuers, as a way to break the ice. I had a fabulous time with all of them and received business cards - one in particular from a publisher.

Two weeks later, I contacted her just to ask, "Do you publish children's books?" A resounding, "Yes!" came through my inbox. To make it even more sweet, she had an illustrator that worked with her as well! I was eccstatic!

After a successful meeting with both of them I was excited to learn that they would work within my budget to get this dream of mine completed.

If I had listened to those tapes. . . oh, those little tapes, I would have never experienced what is now turning out to be something better than I could ever imagine.

Perhaps we, "TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?"

For our SANITY,