I Didn’t Think I Could Do It

I didn’t think I could do it.

Bill, the retired CEO of Town & Country Markets, with whom I worked for twenty years, urged me many times to write my book…

I didn’t think I could deliver a transformation in a reader’s life as I do—and am reliable for doing—in my Heart of Leadership course, a course I have been leading for forty years, both for individuals and for companies.

I didn’t think the written word would be powerful enough to transmit that transformation.

But the idea—the possibility of it—tugged at me for years.

I lived and breathed it as a possibility for many years, until… until…

I had a realization.

I realized I was 79 years old.

I realized that while I can be of service live, now, I won’t be alive forever.

And I realized that while many people are leading beautiful work, and many people are receiving beautiful work, there is only one Heart of Leadership—a transmission of the space of Sacred Listening that is uniquely born through my experience; my stories, my intention, my relationship with the people in front of me—or, in this case, the reader.

And most of all, I hooked into a call—a call from my passion to write. To do it.

I sat with it.

I considered combining all my blogs into a book of teachings.

Nothing felt quite right.

And then, one morning in meditation, something incredible happened.

A wave of energy—not the kind of energy Baba Muktananda had, but another kind of energy—one of warmth and peace and rightness—filled my body.

The time? May of 2024.

As I came out of the meditation, two words arrived with the opening of my eyes:

Pay attention!

It was more than an instruction, more than a mantra—it was a demand.

On the table next to me lay a stack of cards: Doreen Virtue Life Purpose Oracle Cards.

I picked them up. As per the instructions, I shuffled them. Then I spread them out and selected one.

The card I selected was:

And then I read the accompanying book. It said—clearly, directly, almost insistently:

“You’ve long had the thought of writing a book, and this card is a signal that the time is now. This endeavor is part of your life purpose.

Although you may not have a fully formed concept in mind, the act of writing will prime the pump and create a flow of ideas…

Most authors write their books in small time increments, so don’t think that you need to retire to have the hours to devote to writing. Remember that if you finish just one page a day, in a year you will have produced a 365-page book!

If you need additional confidence in your writing abilities, you can always take classes, join or start a writer’s group, or hire an editor. The main point is to write… now!”

I sat there.

Still.

I knew I was going to write a book.

That night, I shared the meditation with my husband, knowing he would completely understand. He has mystical experiences too, and is incredibly intuitive, deeply keyed into me.

He did.

He said, “You know what?”

And thinking about the idea of creating a compilation of previous blog teachings, he said, “You ought to see if you could get a hold of Jack Canfield. He knows precisely how to put stories together in a way that works.”

Jack was the co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, if you don’t already know that.

And what Don didn’t already know was that for two weeks, I had been receiving marketing emails from Steve Harrison and Jack Canfield, who were holding a two-day retreat for authors wanting to write a book.

It was an incredibly compelling invitation, and I had been simply ignoring it, as it was expensive.

But when Don said that, I was blown away.

I said, “You have to come downstairs to my office right away and read what I have been receiving about every two days.”

He did. He read it. And he said, “Apply. Now.”

He didn’t have a question about the size of the investment.

I applied. I spent two hours applying. I was thorough in my application.

And I was accepted.

Dave at Bradley Communications said to me, “You are exactly the person we are looking for.”

The retreat was in June.

About two weeks after I was accepted, I realized the book that needed to be written was The Heart of Sacred Listening, NOT the blog compilation.

God works in mysterious ways.

If I only write one more book in my lifetime, THIS is the one I want to leave on the planet.

To Be Continued next Wednesday…

The Heart of Sacred Listening: Transform Your Relationships, Your Work, and Your Life is now available on my book page

And you are warmly invited to join the launch celebration.

If you feel called, you can learn more and join us here:

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