When asked if writing was hard, Ernest Hemingway answered simply,
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”.
His answer only refers to the writing. After the initial drafts then you edit, edit. edit as you prepare to publish, and then copy read again and again which is just another name for edit and correct.
It is so much agony for so long that it’s easy to forget to be GRATEFUL.
I banish anyone in my office from saying “I have to speak”, “I have to be on a panel” or “I have to be on TV”.
The point I want clients to embrace is that it is an honor to be asked to speak, to be asked to be on a panel or to be a guest on TV. We need to be GRATEFUL for the opportunity, for every opportunity.
As I like to say few people wake up in NE Ohio with the opportunity to be in the spotlight.
So I turn the honest mirror on myself. Some of the characters I wanted to thank in the book were 4-legged and some 2’legged. Some 4-legged and 2-legged are alive and some have crossed over The Rainbow Bridge. I still wanted to honor them.
It is the act of being GRATEFUL I wanted to address. Some of the 2 and 4 – legged characters I mentioned in the forward to my book:
Fionn – is a magnificent small draft horse called a Gypsy Vanner. They were bred to be strong enough to pull the gypsy wagon by day, and gentle enough to sleep with the children by night. He loves the obstacle course challenge, sometimes taking himself through it without human help.
Sunny – is a mature chestnut mare patient with the humans who pretty much have no idea what they are doing in the first challenge.
Penny – is an older Quarter Horse who invokes trust in most people who meet her in the pasture.
Grey Lady – is an Arabian mare who excels in the Round Pen. With just a few instructions, she makes sure that the humans have success and a good experience with her in this arena with no corners.
LeVoyer Arabians Ltd. – the Arabian horse farm that allows us to conduct this day with the horses and rescue animals Jeremiah, Ben, Jerry, Val, Charlemagne, Elson, Peanut, and the cats.
My family – my mom Selma, my dad Herbie, and my sister Lisa all sacrificed so that I could fulfill my dream of showing at the National level.
Electric Impulse+ – I named my business after a big, white Arabian stallion named Electric Impulse+. I showed him for 16 years. He taught me how to win, to love and then he taught me how to let go. (The + denotes his Legion of Honor Award)
