Balance has been my nemesis this past year. Sure I published my first novel, but I also started a new job. And I'm a mom. And a wife. Sometimes it's a lot to juggle. My writing life has been a bit slow to say the least. I am working on my next novel, but as I can't always write everyday, it's a slow process to say the least.

I also teach full time. I am a virtual teacher which is great because I get to work from home, but that doesn't mean that I can just write anytime I want. My day is full of classes, phone calls, emails, and grading. Some days, I don't leave my office all day! By night time, I am usually too tired to write much. So, I write when I can. Maybe it is only a hundred words, maybe it is a few thousand.

Meanwhile, I have been watching my friends release book after book. I have been cheering their successes but found myself beginning to compare my life to theirs. Of course, It's hard not to get jealous. I miss marketing opportunities, conferences, and conversations because I am teaching. Most of the time, I feel behind and like I am never doing enough to build my brand to become the writer I want to be. I get frustrated and that is when self-doubt strikes. This is exactly where I found myself a few, short weeks ago.

And then something happened.

Every class, I teach, I share a quote of the day with my students. It is usually something that I find online. Something to motivate them and get them to think of themselves and their lives differently. As I was sharing one day, something hit me. I always give my students advice, but find that I don't always take it and here was the best advice staring right at me! When I read the above quote, I suddenly saw my life in a new light. Any self-doubt or jealousy began to disappear. You see, I realized that your journey is not mine. What I am accomplishing is different than what everyone else is accomplishing. And this journey that I am on is exactly where I am supposed to be. Being a writer means being patient. Success does not come over night. Authors don't find success overnight. It takes years of hard work to get to that point and most of that time, that hard work took place behind closed doors.

I am just beginning on this journey and it is my own. And someday, with hard work and patience, I will get there, too.

~Happy Reading
Sara